23 April 2002 - 16:20

Another weekend scuttles by like a hungry spider. A hungry Charspider, that is, whose birthday it was, which occasion was celebrated with games and excursions and other such pastimes.

Over the course of said four-day weekend (Charspider took work off, although of course I still attended classes) I came across a lovely, comfortable, and inexpensive wedding dress while grocery shopping. This pleases me greatly. It was at a consignment shop with a large wedding section. I've dutifully looked over many of the gowns there every time we've been in the past several months and always found the lot of them rather hideous. Hideous and hundreds of dollars-ous. So once again we see that patience and persistance are virtues. Sometimes.

Also Charspider took us to Siesta beach, and that was lovely, though surprisingly crowded. And the water was rather brownish. Nonetheless, we had a picnic there and the seagulls did not kill us, and even the big white powdery expanse of Siesta crawling with sluggish humanity kicking up dirt and slimey brown water plants, remained a peakedly sensual experience.

I miss biking there. And biking in general. I am relieved that Wheel and I have our faithful steeds back and perhaps somehow might manage to be more mobile... of course, if I end up biking to my internship a couple times a week, I'll really have nothing to complain about.

Earth Day has come and gone once again, and while I wished to celebrate it with something special, I spent the day taking classes and the evening catering to Charspider's final birthday whims. Which, to my pleasure, included visiting a brand-newly-opened comics/gaming store here in Sarasota. It was delightful, with a wonderful selection of a variety of things, and all of the things that a comics/gaming store ought to have: chairs for reading in, tables for gaming on, a message board for meeting gamers and trading tradables, and friendly knowledgable staff. If people start patronizing it, it could become a very cozy resource. For my part, any comics I buy, I'll buy there.

I took two very straightforward tests yesterday. My classwork this whole A/Y has been a real delight and markedly free from stress. My financial situation has been calmer too, stabilized by the fact that for the first time in my life I have a small but steady flow of income. I'm not in debt and have miniscule savings set aside and a good enough pillow in my checking account and I've been buying groceries for once (instead of Wheel) and I'm still employed.

Unfortunately, all that will come crashing apart once rent looms its ugly head. For my "full time" internship I'm expected to be working M-F from 8-5. That's a 45 hour week, plus for me, about an hour commute each way (by bike or bus), putting us at 11 hours a weekday... completely unpaid. In fact, when I take the bus it will cost $2/day. It's not that I haven't known this from the beginning, or anything. It's just that it's getting so soon now. That and we have yet to finalize any sort of housing plans for the summer and next year, nor have Wheel or I heard back from our potential part-time summer employers (nor will we for a week at least, as the person who handles such things is on vacation), nor has Wheel other specific plans.

Housing is my greatest concern. Because I am working for Gillian, she might possibly procure on campus housing for me for over the summer, but with Wheel graduated, it would be pretty inconvenient to live on campus next year. And we suspect that it might be harder to find a place to rent in September than in June, although we're not sure. And if we were to have to sign a 1-year lease or any such, we would prefer it run out next June. Also, Oregano and Paradox want to live with us next year, and need a place for the summer. On the other hand, Tommyknocker also wants to live with us next year, but won't be here for the summer. It's confusing and troublesome.

We've taken walks with Nootropil (Tommyknocker) and with Oregano & Pairodox looking for places to stay and have noted down a few possibilities, but most of what we've seen were intended to be rented at the beginning of May, whereas we need something for the beginning of June. Pairodox doesn't even think we should bother looking until May because of that situation, and in May, of course, I anticipate being rather busier.

I remain assured that it will all work out for the best.

And with that, I sign off, as Wheel has just finished what we hope are really his last thesis revisions this time, and taken leave of this bleak computer lab. I'm going to have a sandwich.