I hate my bank

Why are they so unorganized? You would think coming recommended by University and having a branch right down the street from University would make things easy, but no. When I signed up, they asked if I wanted to have a "themed" debit card. I had a choice of about 50 cards with images of trees or kitties or sports teams on them. Frankly, they were all ugly. I said no thanks and they said fine, here's the standard. Standard arrived in the mail and, after some textbook buying drama, was used for a month and worked fine. Then, they send me another card. What?! And not just a standard card, a sports themed one. I tried calling to find out why the hell I have two debit cards and got all tangled up in "If you have a customer service question, press 1. If you want to sign up for one of our special-but-it's-a-rip-off programs, press 2. If you want more options, press 3. If you think my voice is creepy, press 4. If you want to change your theme from ugly sports team to ugly dinosaurs press 5. If you don't give a shit about card themes and just want to know why the hell your bank is incompetent, press go to hell. Please hold."

So I hung up and threw the card in a drawer. I know, not the best choice but I'm new at this. Everything was fine for another month because I didn't use my card, I had too much cash left over from the summer and that covered my meager student expenses. Well, floormate and I go to BadBank's ATM down the street (because it is just a little bit closer than the branch of BadBank). And the card. doesn't. work. What?! Fine, go back to University and try to log-in to online banking using normal card to be told no by the website. Fine, rip that damn ugly sports team card out of the drawer. Try to log on again using ugly card number. Works, account is happy and fine. Call the number on ugly card to activate. Activated, put normal card into drawer and ugly card into wallet. Too late to go back to ATM (kinda sketch area at night).

You would think the debit card drama would be over. But no, I got my bank statement in the mail today. Even though their website keeps bragging to me that I am "going paperless." So why I still receive two statements a month probably has to do with whatever they did that caused above drama. One statement is normal and fine, exactly what it says online. Phew. Second statement, not so much. I signed up for some program that sounded very nice when I started, it is basically to help you save money. They transfer the extra change from your checking account to your savings account. You only make about $1.81 a month but whatever. Well, this statement has that $1.81 added and then says -$20.00 maintenance fee. Again, What?! Why would I be in a program where I am paying $20.00 a month for "maintenance" while only making $1.81?! So today, I am going to schlepp down to BadBank branch and find out what the hell is going on with this account.

A few quizzes to procrastinate away the afternoon:

Awww, how perfect:

You Are Boston

Both modern and old school, you never forget your roots. Well educated and a little snobby, you demand the best. And quite frankly, you think you are the best. Famous people from the Boston area: Conan O'Brien, Ben Affleck, New Kids on the Block

What American City Are You?

Maybe for Grad School:

You Belong in London

A little old fashioned, and a little modern. A little traditional, and a little bit punk rock. A unique soul like you needs a city that offers everything. No wonder you and London will get along so well.

What City Do You Belong In?

What a shock:

You Are 0% Redneck

I'll slap you so hard, your clothes will be outta style. You ain't no redneck - you're all Yankee!

How Redneck Are You?

It's that time again...

Your Halloween Costume Should Be

Candy Corn

What Should You Be For Halloween?

Umm....no thanks. Anyway, I've known for several YEARS what I am going to be for this particular Halloween.

Guilty

Ummmm, so yeah. About not posting since June......well, I don't have a very good excuse except that I was with only questionable internet access the entire summer and then got busy with travel and relocation. I've started many journals in my life and never had the discipline to maintain any of them. But I'm trying really hard this time...or at least I'm trying. I will resume TT this week (en shallah). I will also (hopefully) post pictures from my amazing trip to China!

This Week!

I am graduating this week! The last week of school is always the best because we usually only have half days and it is all recognition ceremonies and picnics. Unfortunately, the week is dampened a bit by the 10 PAGE PAPER I have to write for my senior project. I also have to do a powerpoint presentation. I have had 2 weeks to do this. How much do you think I have done? Hint: look at the title of the blog. NONE. That's right, it is Sunday and I have not started either. But I'm not worried. This year, I became a pro at writing papers the night before/day they were due. I wrote my English Thesis and Final Paper for Anthropology the same Sunday night/Monday morning...and I got decent grades. The senior project isn't even graded so of course it is going to be a lot of BS to fill the 10 pages and of course I haven't started. Please. It should be an interesting paper, though. It is on microlending and my recent trip to Guatemala (see two posts down). I will probably bite the bullet and make myself start working on it sometime today.

Thursday Thirteen #5

T-minus 7 days and counting! Only one week left until graduation. I have my dress (we are required to wear white), I have new shoes, a hair and pedi appointment, a mountain of party invitations, and today I received my first congratulatory card. My grandmother will be flying in next week and, due to a change in schedule, my brother will be able to be here. After four years, I am definitely ready and glad to be leaving this school. I tried to come up with a list of what I will miss but 13 is a lot and I couldn't do it so here are 13 things I am doing this summer.

1. Graduating

2. Going to China with my friend who was born there

3. Burning my uniform and books...well, maybe not burning them

4. Sleeping

5. Visiting lots of family like every summer

6. Seeing my dog who now lives with my grandmother

7. Packing up my life

8. Buying a laptop

9. Practicing violin (ha!)

10. Saying goodbye (maybe forever?) to friends

11. Moving a few states away

12. Flying the coop...

13. ...and going to college!

Thursday Thirteen #4

Some things from my recent trip to Guatemala. Enjoy!

Thirteen Things I did in Guatemala
1. Traveled with a group called Friendship Bridge (Puente de Amistad) that gives microloans to poor women to start their own businesses to help their families. www.friendshipbridge.org

2. Brushed my teeth in the street!
3. Stayed in the very beautiful and very colorful Antigua.

4. Crossed the breathtaking Lake Atitlan

5. Drove part of the Pan-American Highway

6. Bought local crafts

7. Took local transportation

8. Saw "temporary" camps for people displaced due to a hurricane induced mudslide. They have been living in these camps for 2 years now.

9.Met with groups of women in the program

10. Made home visits to see the improvement in the quality of life the program provides...and gave gifts to their children

11. Got burned! The burn on my arm then turned into a lovely trucker's tan.

12. Played Mad-Libs in Spanish (that is hard to do!)

13. Heard these women's stories and realized microlending is how we are going to end poverty!
...and we did much more!

One of my favorites: 16-year-old Juana. She is such a brave entrepreneur.

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Thursday Thirteen #3

Senior Prank Day for the Class of 2007 was on Wednesday, April 25. We stayed after school the day before until 7pm and some people came to school at 6:30 the next morning! (I didn't). Here are some of the things we did:

Thirteen Pranks 1. Facebook Theme: Prank Day is a serious tradition at my school complete with a theme and specially made t-shirt. The theme for this year was Facebook. We made profiles for each teacher and our shirt had a profile for the entire class. We also made fingers to poke people. We incorporated a little of a James Bond theme because we are the class of 007. Front of the shirts: Closeup: There was a facebook profile for our class on the back. Finger: In the entrance to the school we posted the ten commandments of facebook: 2. Outside: We used the traditional waterballoons and squirt guns to throw from the senior balcony onto people arriving in the morning. Except that we got carried away and dumped silly string and full buckets of water on people and ruined someone's laptop and ipod. We also had a group outside on the street to get people to honk. Fortunately (for us, not the administration), our school is on a very busy main street and there were lots of people going to work. Being an all girls school, we had boys come as is tradition. They were kicked out at 10:00. We also brought our dogs to school which was tons of fun. Yes, the administration got mad about that last sign. We put many more of these "got tots?" signs outside the principal's office because, long story short, a few months ago one of the seniors was standing in the lunch line and ate her tater tots. The woman in charge of the cash register saw this and still charged her for the tots and the girl paid. The woman in charge of the cafeteria was watching and thought the girl didn't pay and ate the tots in line specifically so she wouldn't have to pay. Well, this snowballed into TONS of drama in which the disciplinary review board had to meet and there were all kinds of meetings and rivalries and gossip. It was crazy. I think they completely overreacted but I have many problems with our administration as it is... 3. Frosh Lounge: The Freshmen really annoy us. We've been having a battle with them all year and used this day as an opportunity to really stick it to them. Someone in our class printed out the "glamor" and "emo" self-taken photos that the freshmen are so stupidly proud of and posted them in their locker area. We also printed out their insanely stupid wall to walls in which they brag about being WASPS and talk about how rich they are and how great and sexy their self taken photos are. Yes, on her wall, a freshman actually wrote that We also printed out many other things that I can't post here... 4. Sopho Lounge: The sophomores are our little sisters. (Juniors and Frosh are sister classes). We like our sisters much more than we like the juniors and freshmen so we gave them gifts and cute things. Our two classes inside the "locket"...awww 5. Junior Lounge: Many of the Juniors are somewhat annoying, and some of the Juniors are very annoying. There is one girl in particular that our entire class has a major bone (or seven) to pick with her. In short, she is very "active" for causes she "supports" but she could not find Darfur on a map to save her life. She is soooooo ditzy and only "supports" these causes so she can beef her resume. We once had a newspaper photographer come because one of our clubs was having an event and she came and threw herself all over the photographer to try and get her picture in the paper even though she is not even a member of the club. There are many issues with her. The class is also pretty..."inappropriate" in their behavior outside school... Activism girl drives to school and parks where you are NOT ALLOWED to park and it makes all of the seniors crazy and we almost have accidents every day because we can't see the cars coming. The above is from the real about me section of a junior's profile 6. Where's Amy?: This is one of our teachers who is very nice but was on maternity leave for part of this year and he kept getting sick so she would have to leave school to take him to the doctor and then she had to take a month off to take care of him (he's fine now). Basically, she was never around this year so we did a Where's Waldo? theme for her office and she liked it. I can't post pics of her office because they all have her name on the door and I don't feel like getting crafty with photoshop. 7. Jack: Our hilarious spanish teacher who just lends himself to jokes. We had no trouble coming up with ideas for his room. We used all of the jokes and quotes he has told us through the years. I'm not going to post pictures because then I would have to explain the jokes and that would make this very long (and you are already snoring). It was a really funny room, though. 8. Heaven & Hell: On the second floor, the Bio lab is right across the hall from a math room. We LOVE the bio teacher. She really is wonderful. So her AP Bio students did a "heaven" theme for her room that she loved... ...HOWEVER, I don't know the math teacher very well but her students say she is horrible and mean and the devil. SO...they did a "hell" theme for her room across the hall. They went WAY overboard and this caused lots of problems that you can read about below. 9. Shrines: Our anthropology teacher is an awesome archaeologist who travels about the world on digs. She has tons of amazing stories and is a great story teller. Basically, anthro class is one big laugh fest every day. We put shrines in her room and tons of quotes from her that, when taken out of the context of the story, can become, well, see below: Highlights from her profile: Activities: traveling to the most remote places on earth, flint-knapping Interests: putting [her husband] in harm's way. (seriously, this guy has followed her to the ends of the earth and even fell down a Mayan pyramid) favorite music: the sound of my rain-stick about me: I'm a shaman. I make the rain come. I plan to take over the world with my husband at my side, but if he needs to be sacrificed...well, eh. favorite quotes: "I don't mean to seduce people, it just happens." "So you see, girls, there's no telling what that tarantula would have done to me had I not been extremely drunk." "Be careful out there, it's one big orgy" "There's nothing anthropologically wrong with incest. If you have good genes and if your father has good genes, there's no reason you can't have a child with your father. The reason we don't do it is that it would cause cultural chaos. I mean, how do you think your mother would feel?" "Incest was great for Egyptian pharaohs. If you're a god, you wanna keep those genes in the family." "Let's make that the theme of this class: men are bad." (remember, all girls school) That is just the tip of the iceberg...this woman is hilarious 10. Cleavage: Our Government teacher is quite an entertaining and awkward man. We make fun of him a lot and he returns the favor. One day, before learning about the cleavages in government, he said, "I hate that your book uses the word cleavage 'cause that makes me thing of Victoria's Secret catalogues. Tell me that wasn't what you were thinking when you read that." So we made his room cleavage themed. He thought it was funny even though the teacher who is supposed to check all of our plans beforehand to make sure they are appropriate started flipping out about sexual harassment. We moved all of the desks and chairs to make a fort because he is also the U.S. History teacher. His classes all had to sit on the floor and take notes and he said they didn't pay attention because they were all shopping for bathing suits with the pages on the floor. He thought the day was great but did say he was sorry he ever said the word cleavage in class. 11. Lunch and Moon Bounce: We had abundant food that we actually were still munching on during school today (thursday). We also rented a moon bounce that was uber fun. Above: Winston hanging out on the 3rd floor. Below: Toby at assembly 12. Pac-Man: This was my favorite part. Two boys played life-size pac-man in the morning during school. It was hilarious. Especially when they ran across the stage and through the auditorium during assembly while the principal was talking. (she thought it was funny) 13. Trouble: Well, we got into some trouble. Big trouble, actually. As our principle said, "Girls, this wasn't over the line. You jumped over the line and ran past it." First, there were a lot of little things. We put vasaline on the railings and apparently you aren't allowed to do that. Then, we had the "honk if you're horny" sign. Then we dumped water on someone AFTER being told not to use buckets and her laptop and ipod were ruined (i think, maybe they were salvaged). Then, we broke the huge rule of no personal attacks. We are allowed to post pictures of people (for example, freshmen) being stupid but are not allowed to single people out because that is mean. Well, we singled out too many freshmen and did make some personal attacks against individual girls. They were even more angry about what we did to the juniors and activism girl (she was upset). We also have a teacher who is running for public office and some people in our class sorta stole signs from his opponent off people's lawns the night before. (I thought that was really stupid). He got VERY angry because that could totally screw up his campaign. We made profiles for every teacher and apparently some were really harsh and one teacher cried when she read hers and canceled class. The worst was the Hell themed room. The teacher is really not liked at all and her students went to town on her room to let her know they hate her. You can see all the work that went into the room by the pictures. They even unscrewed all of the bulbs from the lights to make the room dark. They also made some very harsh signs to put in her room that go into very bad territory including things about her unborn baby (she's pregnant). Basically, she saw the room when she got to school, cried, and went home before school started. She did not come to school today (thursday) either. First period, all of the seniors were pulled out of our classes and we had a meeting with the principal and the 11/12 dean in the auditorium. They were VERY mad. The dean started crying. We ended up canceling some of our pizza orders for lunch and sending the teacher flowers and writing a note that came out a little impersonal. The meeting was supposed to be serious but it was hard to concentrate since all of the dogs were panting and sneezing very loudly and then one started wheezing and the principal asked who's dog was dying. We also lost our senior privileges which are coming in late if you have a 1st period free and leaving early if you have a last period free. We'll see what happens tomorrow. A bunch of other stuff happened that I don't feel like going into. You can imagine the drama and fallout that happened today. Being a small school, everyone gossips and wants to know everything. We did many other things and decorated more rooms but this is already way over 13. I'm sorry this became so incredibly long. The doors to our lounge: