Friendship Liability Insurance

The other night, I had gone downtown to smoke hookah with Madison & Drew (Drew is a new guy at work). The place we decided to go to didn't have any parking spots so we had to go down a side street. Madison wasn't sure where to park so I told her to just pull in somewhere (there were cars everywhere) & we'd be fine. Plus there was the sign that said we could park there!

After our little hookah excursion in which there was a guy dressed as Pikachu & another guy wearing a skirt wandering around, we go back outside & walk to the cars. That's when I spot the piece of paper underneath her windshield wiper. And one in the same spot on Drew's car (he drove separately). They each got $30 tickets. Oops. Madison was upset because I "told" her to park there. I went over to the sign & saw that it said you could park there until 11pm (by this point it was close to 1am). I found this to be a bit humorous just because something similar had happened a month ago or so with Madison when we went to a coffee shop downtown. I "told" her to park there then, too. Whatevs. They're only $30 each & I may give her some cash for them since I do feel a smidge responsible.

While thinking about these incidents, it reminded me how often stuff like this happens. It seems like I have this innate ability to accidentally get people in trouble, possibly for something I played part in, & not get in trouble at all. The first of these stories occurred in my first semester at TFC. This was back when I hung out with Neil, Dan, & Robyn (made famous in my post about how I started drinking & then had a nervous breakdown). Robyn didn't live on campus & doesn't really play a part in this story at all, so screw him.

Anyway, Neil & Dan bought a smoke machine for some reason & were messing around with it in Dan's bathroom (his poor roommate...). I was getting ready to go to bed when I hit the button one last time & made it give a long, drawn out puff of smoke. Then I went to bed. About 5 minutes later, the smoke alarms begin ringing in the dorm. Well, shit. I come out of my room to see Dan & Neil already out of Dan's room looking panicked. The R.A. came out of his & was able to get the alarm off before more people came out of their rooms. He knew Neil & Dan were responsible so he told them he'd talk to them the next day. I just snuggled back in my bed, having sweet dreams.

The next day Dan & Neil were given 12 hours of gratis a piece (gratis was the form of punishment our school used for a while. If someone broke a rule or someone in authority just didn't like a student, they could be given gratis, which essentially was community service on campus or they could pay a fine for however many hours of gratis they were assigned). No one asked them whether or not I was involved, & they didn't volunteer that information for a few reasons. The first being that they knew I'd probably have a nervous breakdown if I was given gratis & the other reason being that they could then guilt me into submission. Whatever. Later on that week I was in Dan's room with Neil when the R.A. came in. I pretended to be asleep & heard the R.A. ask him if anyone else was involved & Neil said no. Thank you, Neil!

That weekend a former student who was friends with Neil & Dan came to visit. We all enjoyed camping (yes, I do enjoy camping. Surprise!) so that was on the agenda. Since we were paying thousands of dollars to be treated like children, we were required to fill out an overnight pass that listed where you would be & who you were with. The overnight pass was then signed by an R.A. & taped to your door in case they did bed checks or there was an emergency. However, since Dan & Neil had gratis they weren't allowed to go anywhere overnight. But they wouldn't let that stop them! Unfortunately for them, I forgot about that rule & put on my overnight pass that they were going to be with me. Oops!

After a horrendous night in the woods where Dan didn't include the covering of the tent & it poured for hours (I was the only one who brought a sleeping bag so I ended up not sleeping in a puddle), we came back & they each had 6 more hours of gratis for going out with outstanding gratis.

So in one week I managed to accidentally get them 18 hours of gratis. Though I was able to help them work it off by helping me with Student Government projects.

But my reign of terror doesn't end there! The next year after Neil & Robyn were gone, Dan had begun dating his future wife. We didn't hang out much then (as if I haven't already presented numerous reasons why) but we still talked occasionally. I was late going to chapel (we had to go to chapel a certain number of times a semester) when I saw them walking away from the chapel. I hollered, "What? Are you guys skipping chapel?!" They looked guilty & didn't answer. That's when I saw one of the deans of the school walking farther ahead. Shit. The next day Dan texted me freaking out because both he & Chelsea got about 8 hours of gratis & the rest of their chapel skips taken away from them for the rest of the semester because of that.

There have been other instances where I was the one who caused something to happen but I wasn't the one who got in trouble, but these are the ones that stick out the most in my mind. Also, this post is already running long & most people will have stopped reading by now.

I swear I'm not a bad friend! These things just happen!

And on a similar note, the entire time I was at TFC I never got gratis. Not even that time I almost got kicked out.

Most Boring Post Yet? Perhaps.

I got pulled over last night because the car I was driving (belonging to my mother) had an expired registration & inspection sticker. I've been driving it since I moved to Raleigh because my Focus was on its last leg & my parents didn't want me to explode. However, they told me I didn't need to take care of anything until January. Turns out they were wrong.

I thought about it earlier this week about how I needed to get it done so I texted my mom, who told my dad, who texted me, saying it was actually December. Lovely. I have been working from early morning until late afternoon this whole week (until today) so I haven't had time to get it done. While I was leaving my small group at church I saw a cop next to me, & I knew what was going to happen.

And it did.

Luckily he was nice, young, & possibly flirting with me. I told him the truth, & that I was going to go tomorrow (today) & get it inspected. He let me leave.

I got it inspected today & passed. Accidently. He said he didn't mean to pass me since the metal was showing on one of the tires. Oops. So I got 2 new tires today when I came home to visit my parents.

I also almost brought The Rage on a lady who worked at Wal-Mart but that story won't translate well to blog.

I also realized that quite a few of the people at Wal-Mart today looked like they had Down's Syndrome on top of their typical slow appearances.

Also, Verizon can suck a fat one. That's a different post altogether.

Could this be my most boring, rambling post ever? Perhaps. I'm a terrible blogger.

Procrastination

Do you know how awesome my Friday nights are? I just ate soup & I'm procrastinating working on a 3 page paper that's due Sunday. So far all I have is the title page. It won't be too hard (that's what she said) but I need to just get it done so I can get drunk by myself tomorrow night.

I work in the morning at 5:30 & get off at 11. Then I'm going home (...) to pick up some stuff that my mother doesn't want to mail because she is determined that since my street gets a lot of traffic that someone is going to steal my mail. But I have a coupon for Ruby Tuesday so I figure I can let them take me to lunch, get a free meal, get my stuff, & then be on my merry way.

Oh shit. My dad just texted me to remind me to do my traffic school for my non-speeding ticket because my mother won't quit nagging him. I just responded, "Grow a pair. I'm serious. She will never respect you if you keep letting her treat you like this."

I hope they still take me to lunch.

Decompressing

After my little meltdown last night, I decided to take today to calm down & get my head cleared. I didn't want to go calling Liberty & verbally rape everyone raw because that's not good for getting what I want. No, instead it's time to manipulate them into getting what I want or at least making them feel guilty. So tomorrow or Saturday I will take care of it.

Instead of doing something productive like homework, working out, or my traffic school for my non-speeding ticket, I slept. All afternoon. From about 1:30 until about 5:30. Because that's healthy.

Oh! Oh! I did do something productive today besides sleep & go to counseling (holla, Michael!). I bid for the P90X DVD's on eBay! Looks like daddy's getting SWOLE!

Looking Up? Perhaps

So, for all intents & purposes, I have found a place to move! Wahoooo!

It's one of those deals where I looked on Craigslist (I know...) & found a reasonably priced place in a decentish neighborhood in Raleigh. I went yesterday to meet the guy & he's crazy nice & the place is pretty ok. I'm gonna get the biggest bedroom, so that's a humongous plus. There's even a basement with a spiral staircase! And the lease is month to month so if things don't exactly pan out as well as I'd like for them to, it will be easier to fix than when I lived with My Giant.

Don't quite know when I'm moving yet. I haven't signed anything yet. My parents aren't exactly thrilled that I'm moving in with someone I don't know, but hey, beggars can't be choosers. I don't feel nervous about this at all except that I've never been in a situation like this before & I'm going to miss being with my parents (even if they drive me crazy).

On another note, none of the online traffic schools that have sent me information on their services got my name right. Not a single one!

Also there are some issues with my Financial Aid at Liberty Online. I have complete faith that it will work out though because I have to.

Corruption & Bullshit (But I'm Not Bitter)

I pride myself on being someone who doesn't drive like a maniac. I don't even speed (that much). In fact, I've only gotten 2 tickets (1 for speeding when I thought the speed limit was different than it was & the other for driving a friend's car that apparently had an expired tag. She paid me back for that though). That is, until today...

This weekend my dad & I made a whirlwind trip down to West Palm Beach to get my stuff. We left Friday after he got off work at 4:30 & made it down there around 5:45am. We packed, cleaned, loaded my car, & said goodbye to (like 3) people. This (Sunday) morning we left around 7:30am. I started us on the drive.

About 2 hours after departing I was driving through a construction zone that was set at 65mph. I set the cruise control to about 69-71. I saw a cop on the side of the road but I didn't bother slowing down because I know those speed things usually show the car as going a little slower than it really is (at least I've heard that). After a while, he finally pulled out & pulled me over.

He comes over & says he clocked me going 80mph. I told him that no, in fact, I wasn't. I was going about 68. He said I was the only car & that I was going 80. I told him no, I had my cruise control set & there was no way that was possible. I wasn't rude at all (I was incredibly nice) & neither was he, but I wasn't about to deal with him lying to me about my speed so he could meet his quota.

He comes back & tells me that since it was a construction zone that fines were doubled so I'd get a $400 fine, & an automatic 4 points on my license. BUT he dropped it down to a 74mph in a non-construction zone so I would only get a $134 fine & 3 points on my license that I could have dropped by doing online traffic school. How generous & kind he was!

Ultimately, I know I was only pulled over because I had an out-of-state license plate because this kind of thing still happens & he hesitated so long to pull me over in the first place. He also probably thought I was younger than I was (damn baby face) & he could talk me into thinking I was wrong about my speed. But I knew I wasn't wrong & wouldn't go along with it, so that either helped him lower the speed because I might would fight it, or he didn't drop it to a warning because I wouldn't go along with it. Who knows. It's bullshit, either way.

I can't be mad though. He was really nice, aside from the lying. And I can't even be mad at him for lying for his job since I've had to lie to customers at Applebee's when I tell them our food is good.