The mini-vacation that just passed was pleasant enough.
On Monday, I got the chance to meet up with some of my high school friends. We hung out at Union Square - stuffing our faces with Chipotle burritos and then some frozen yogurt with fruit at Red Mango afterward. Then we paid a little visit to the Academy of American Studies, the high school we all attended. Priscilla and sat in the back of the classroom during AP Euro, wondering how long it would take for Ms. Tuite to spot us amidst her new class of sophomores and seniors. It took about 10 minutes... and someone standing up near us for her to finally notice. She laughed and got so excited. Later on, we saw my old Spanish teacher, Ms. Agudelo, and my AP English teacher, Mr. Avitabile. It was pretty nice chatting with them, and it felt weird to be back. The atmosphere was still the same, but the new faces of scared freshmen and the idea of the former juniors (now seniors) graduating in June 2009 was something we needed to get used to. But at least we took away the memories with us that day - we finally picked up the long-awaited senior yearbook and flipped through all the pages of laughter and smiles. It sounds cheesy, but it was a nice feeling to be back, if only for a little while.
I spent the other days of the mini-break waking up at around 11:00, just lounging around my house, raiding the fridge, and watching all the shows I missed on sidereel.com. It felt wonderful to not have to worry about anything... until this morning.
To start it off, my printer was not cooperating with me when I wanted to print out the powerpoint slides for my Psych class. Supposedly it was not connected to the computer. But I checked all the connections - the USB cable, the power cord, and I even restarted everything - but unfortunately, to no avail. Just my luck. I mean, I did the reading for Psych, and even took notes while I read, but to just to make sure, I always print out the slides for my own reference during class (and to write notes on the margin) because my professor zooms through the lessons.
Second - the L train was not cooperating. I left my house on time, and would have actually gotten to campus with at least 15 minutes to spare. But the L trains were delayed. One moment I thought that I'd be on my way. But, no. The train was stranded. That's right. Stranded for over half an hour in the tunnel, waiting for the problem to be resolved. To top it all off, when the train DID finally move, it moved at a slower speed (oxymoronic, if you ask me). Someone next to me even joked, "How about no speed?" because the train would stop for about 10 minutes in between each subway station. It was ridiculous! At least the conductor had the decency to tell it straight over the intercom: "We are sorry for the inconvenience, but a customer - yes, a customer like you - on another train ahead of us pulled the emergency brake when there was no emergency. That's why we are all still here, and all the trains are backed up. In the future, please be aware that you should not pull the emergency brake if no emergency is present. Again, we are sorry for the inconvenience. Please be patient."
I was stuck inside the L train for over an hour when finally, blissfully, it rolled into 14th St. Union Square. I kept checking my watch as I transferred to the 6 train, but felt that it was useless. I was late anyway. All thanks to the genius who pulled the false alarm. Idiot. Sorry about that, but in essence, it is the perfect word to describe the uncalled for event.
Fifteen minutes later, I finally reached 68th Street. But only with 20 minutes of class left to spare. I debated with myself... Should I go in and apologize to the instructor for my tardiness (which wasn't my fault) and feel mortified in front of the class? Or should I just forego going to Statistics for today and send an email? If I chose the latter, should I feign sickness or pretend I had a doctor's appointment? Or would the instructor be understanding of my unplanned predicament? Class ended half an hour ago. It's now 11:30.
Whatever. I may as well tell the truth. And humbly ask for the homework assignment. If only this never happened... But I guess, as is the way of life - you just have to deal with it.
I just hope the rest of my day goes well...
A toast: here's to the future.
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