Animal Abuse = Bad. So we have a new puppy.

As if they needed another dog. Yes, my parents got a new bundle of joy to add to their canine menagerie yesterday. It partially fulfills my mother's desire to have a new chihuahua a year after our 17-year-old long hair, Figaro, died. It also fulfills my family's desire to help all of the dogs on earth, even if we don't have room for them all.

So this puppy mill got busted in Tucson a few weeks ago. I didn't hear about it until my dad said they were going to go get a puppy. But when my parents went to the pound to pick one up, they came home empty-handed. My mom said there were hundreds of people there, with a line out the door, all waiting to get a puppy. My dad said when they got in, they were told it was just large breeds left, and of course everyone wanted the toy pups. My parents can't have another big dog (not with two big boxers and a German shepherd-akita mix already ruling the roost), so they went home without adopting.

Then, last Friday, my dad said something about having a 10-day old Chihuahua puppy lined up for my mom, a female, who had been born sometime around the bust and wasn't available for adoption yet. I had to swear secrecy.

Then, my mom asked me on the phone if my dad had said anything to me about a puppy. I played dumb and found out he'd told her, and she wasn't sure if he was pulling her chain, or both of our chains or what (he jokes around a lot).

And yesterday, my dad brought home a puppy. It wasn't the wee one they were signed up to get. Instead, it's a six-month-old male, short hair. He gets really stressed out because Sophie is a big brute and smacks him around (yay, a new toy), and Leo tried to bite his head off when they first met (two males can be problematic--that's why they wanted another female). He also has never been outside before.

What I have heard about the conditions is that the dogs were stuffed into cages and the cages were stacked on top of each other in RVs. The proprietors would pour dog food into the top cages, and if anything fell down to the lower cages then those dogs got to eat. There was also no newspaper or bottom to the cages, so the dogs were going to the bathroom on the ones below them. They never saw the light of day, never went outside.

And now, I guess many of the people who adopted the dogs that first day are taking them back to the pound because they don't "act like normal dogs." Well, duh. They've been abused. I think that's so terrible, and people are so stupid and impatient when it comes to pets. But another thing I've heard is that people are buying up bunches of the dogs, basically repeating the cycle of hoarding them, and trying to sell them on eBay for big prices. Isn't that just the most horrible and absurd thing you've ever heard? I can't believe anyone would treat a poor, abused animal like that (not that I can believe how anyone could abuse an animal, in the first place).

My parents' puppy is 2.5 pounds. He's a miniature chihuahua, and he's still about a half-pound underweight. They haven't neutered him yet because he's still too malnourished to go under the knife. The vet who cared for him before she gave him to my dad said she was able to put 1.5 pounds on him herself. My mom says he gets really stressed when they go outside, because it's bright and there are new sounds. They're not sure how it's going to work with an enormous puppy swatting at him and two old, cranky dogs snapping at him, but we're really hoping the puppy works out because he's already been moved from an abusive kennel to the pound to the vet to my parents, and that's a lot of stress for a tiny, bewildered creature.

My parents haven't named him yet, just in case they think it's not going to work, but my mom wants to give him a "big" name, like Thor or Brutus or something. She says my dad, on the other hand, is thinking more in terms of his Italianate roots and wants to name the puppy Giuseppe, Guido or Salvatore or something silly like that.

We'll see how it goes. When I see him, I'll post a picture. He sounds cute (blonde, with a white ring around his neck, and teensy).

Cafeteria = Good ??

Reasons why a (free) cafeteria in the workplace is a good idea.

My personal observations at the College of Pharmacy:

-Medication Therapy Management Center workers come in with McDonalds coffee and breakfast in the morning.
-They eat lunch at McDonalds, Taco Bell, etc.
-They do this every day, sometime going out a third time for milk shakes.
-Then they complain about getting fat.

Yesterday we had a pizza party at work. Today we're having a (homemade) pasta party.

-Everyone partakes of the free food.
-It's healthier than the crap they'd be paying for outside.
-They'll have less reason to complain.

If you opened a company funded cafeteria (anywhere), and made sure the food was super tasty (and healthy), I bet your employees would eat there most of the time. And enjoy it. And be thankful. And it would be so worth it.

Then we wouldn't have to have these companies going out and making it mandatory for insurance purposes to have all their employees visiting a gym every day. American obesity would decline. And people would stop complaining.

Yeah, it would cost money. But so does forcing a workout plan on overworked people who don't have the time or desire to go to the gym. And then having to fire them and hire new people because the workout plan isn't working.

Oh, America.

Employers are missing something

My boss left an interest press release on my desk today as an FYI.

The release came from the Association of American Colleges and Universities, and was titled, "Multiple Choice Tests and Institutional Assessments Judged Ineffective by Employers Looking for Improvements in College Learning."

A lot of the release is pretty basic, and says things we all (should) have known for years: not everyone does well on multiple choices. Employers have decided test scores and college transcripts aren't that important as they decide whether or not to hire a candidate. The methods colleges use to measure "institutional knowledge," or how well all students at a college have learned the same curriculum, don't actually tell that much about the level of education an individual student receives.

It's good colleges are acknowledging this.

But I have a beef with employers.

Employers find college transcripts of limited use in evaluating college graduates' potential to succeed in the workplace. Only 13% of employers find transcripts very useful. Sixty-seven percent find transcripts just somewhat or not useful.

OK, a 3.6 GPA isn't going to tell you exactly everything you need to know about a potential employee. But I think there is a lot of value to the letters and numbers on a transcript.

If you get an applicant who seems really motivated and has lots of great ideas and recommendations, that's good. But what if he has a 1.9 GPA? What does that tell you about how motivated he was to go to his classes and excel in coursework that attempted to prepare him to work for you? Was he perhaps just as motivated when he got to college, but decided it was too much work? I think a transcript can open up a lot of potential questions like these, and they're important questions.

If I were hiring college grads, I'd want to know why there are deficiencies in their schoolwork. Why would you do anything you can't excel at? (That's my personal philosophy: don't do anything you can't do well.) And if you're bad at something that's preparing you for a future job, why would I believe you'd be any better at the job than you were at preparatory coursework?

There is a good amount of importance to the transcript. You just need to think critically when you look at it.

Other interesting points from the release:

A majority of employers (57 percent) think that half or fewer college graduates have the full set of skills and knowledge needed for advancement in today's workplace.

Employers prefer assessments that require students to demonstrate depth of knowledge and advanced capacities in problem-solving, writing, and analytic reasoning. They believe that multiple choice tests and assessments that evaluate institutions rather than individual students are the wrong choices for assessment and accountability in higher education.

The data the release was written about came from the Liberal Education and America's Promise (LEAP) initiative, and can be found online in a report, "College Learning for the New Global Century", if you have any desire to read it.

Just suck it up

So the other night I did something that went against the grain.

I sang while we were playing RockBand.

I don't normally sing unless I'm alone and in my car. I abstain at all costs because of a traumatic experience my freshman year when I was trying out to sing in one of the UA choirs (the director's response: "Ugh, we'll put you in the uh, Community Choir" + big frown = not good). I never thought I was a fantastic singer, although I was proud to make it into my high school's show choir one year--which I didn't end up joining because it conflicted with my Honors English course (yeah, nerd).

So for months of RockBand play I stuck to only the guitar (which I'm OK at) and the drums (which I'm better at) and nothing more. I'm actually not sure why I never tried bass, to think about it.

So I decided to sing on Saturday night. And I did pretty well on the easy songs (99 percent on first try, Weezer). But then it got worse as the evening went on and they threw me to the hard songs (Orange Crush from R.E.M. is fricking awful/impossible).

Why did I do it? Why did I bend the rules of my being?

To prepare for my harp recital, which is coming up on March 29.

I don't know why, but there's something about stepping out of your comfort zone that makes other parts of life seem less scary. So try it sometime. I bet you won't regret it.

Eating Out

This rarely happens. I swear. And when it does (which it hasn't in at least four years), I normally end up feeling very sick.

That's right. I ate out four days in a row. And then one more time.

How is this possible for someone who tries not to go out for food in general (it's expensive and I have no control over the kitchen...and fast food nauseates me)? But it's easy: you get started, and then your friends can't stop. And you're stuck on the band wagon with them.

Here follows the epic saga with a brief synopsis of the week in food--and how I survived.

Monday: Hungry Howie's
The only reason I ate here was because Ian wanted wings and the Wing Stop is next door. Not that I dislike Hungry Howie's--their pizza is actually pretty good. But the thing that really drew me in was the Howie Bread. It's delicious, comes in small pieces so you feel less guilty about eating them until you realize you've eaten half the box, and it's...tasty. The pizza itself is pretty basic, cheese of course, with garlic herb crust. Not recommended for leftovers--the cheese and sauce get nasty after they've been in the fridge. Howie Bread on the other hand, excellent for a week afterwards. Especially with ranch dressing.

Tuesday: Sushi Ten
Cheaper than Takamatsu but with a similar selection. I used to love going here (all of twice, albeit) because for $9 you could get edamame, a salad (requested vegetarian of course), California rolls, soup, tea and a huge entree. Since new owners took over, the great deals have gone away and I decided to stick with sushi this time around. I got the avocado roll and veggie roll. Both came with eight pieces, but they were teeny-weenie little pieces. Yes, cheaper than Takamatsu, but also much less food for the price. I guess that means the sushi is easier to eat with chopsticks for those who are new at it (as I'll admit I was about a year ago).

Wednesday: Rocco's Little Chicago
As I've said in a previous post, the food is good. We went for Wednesday night wings, which I can't eat. So I got a deep dish 9-inch cheese pizza. It was good. I ate two-thirds of it, and it was huge. And soooo good.

Thursday: Zona 78
The first time I ate here, three long years ago, I had a salad. I'm not sure what I was thinking--the pizza crust is delicious. I met an old pal for pizza and wine. We both had margherita pizzas. It wasn't quite what I was expecting--instead of chopped tomato covering the cheese, there were whole slices of tomato. Still tasty, though. Natalie ordered a pinot noir and I ordered a shiraz. Everyone seemed happy with their choice. We also finished off the meal with an apple tart with vanilla gelato. Split two ways it was just enough, and quite invigorating to the tastebuds--crispy, soft, cold, hot, sweet, spicy. Yum.

Saturday: Ted's Country Store and Brooklyn Pizza
For a late lunch/early dinner Ian took me to this new place on Glenn we discovered. A bit pricey, but convenient by bicycle. I had the vegeterian club--it was basically a mass of sprouts and chopped carrots sandwiched into three pieces of a very light rye. There was a slice of cheese somewhere on the bottom, next to the cucumbers and mayonnaise. There could have been more cheese. It was refreshing, though.
And then, at the RockBand party of the evening, I had pizza for the fourth time in one week. Eeee. But it was surprisingly good for a fourth time in one week. Just nothing extraordinary to note. It was cheese, it was hot. Rocco's was definitely better.

I am now set on cooking for myself, as is my usual habit, for the next five months to make up for all the past week's eating out. After we eat at the Melting Pot tomorrow, anyway.

Quote-A-Day

My boss left a page from her quote-a-day calendar on my desk the other day--it's one of those calendars that counts down 'till Bush is out of office.

I found this quite amusing, and definitely proof people need to educate themselves before they start talking.

Oh, Man, Is He Gonna Get Teased At School
"Earlier today, the Libyan government released Fathi Jahmi. She's a local government official who was imprisoned in 2002 for advocating free speech and democracy."
-George W. Bush, citing Jahmi, who is a man, in a speech paying tribute to women reformers during International Women's Week, Washington, D.C., March 12, 2004

It's always nice to work for someone with a sense of humor.

Mysterious Absence

My mysterious absence from my previously near-daily blogging endeavors can best be explained in two words: journalism thesis.

I had to scramble in the last weeks to get my quantitative analysis done (that I should have gotten done during my winter break when I was, you know, NOT IN SCHOOL). And that involved counting thousands of pages of magazines to figure out how many were content-only, advertising-only, mixed content and advertising, advertorials, complementary content, and on and on and on.

For the record, I didn't get any paper cuts. But my pinky and thumb were raw from my hand constantly dragging across pieces of paper, writing and flipping.

And I now shudder at the site of women's magazines. My latest issue of Elle came in the mail last week and I wanted to gag. Ugh, the thought of a 60+ to 4o ratio of advertising to content just makes me sick.

And Vogue is by far the worst. No matter how much I love runway fashion, I can't seem to understand why a magazine needs to be 840 pages if 638 of those pages are pure advertising. It makes no sense. It's stupid. It hurt my hand and my brain. And my intelligence.

I've come to a conclusion: women's magazines are (1) not journalism and (2) advertising machines. Don't read them. Marie Claire's OK. But don't read them.

An interesting concept

If you haven't heard yet, fashion designers are lobbying Congress to make a law saying they can copyright their fashions--down to the cut of a bag or skirt, the very minute details.

They want to do this because the designers claim the people who make cheap knock-offs are raping the fashion industry of millions of dollars, though I find that hard to believe when you can make a purse and charge $1,198 for it (like the Coach purse below), and plenty of people will buy it.

I heard a story on NPR's Marketplace about this last night, and one interesting thing one of the sources said was that trends fuel the fashion industry, and knock-offs create trends. Therefore, allowing knock-offs to go on the market makes it easier for the big-time designers to be creative and come out with something ever newer and more fabulous.

This struck me as interesting, and it struck one of the industry's lawyers, Alain Coblence, as preposterous. He said "...it's like saying that robbery is a wonderful thing in the economy because by way of replacing the stolen goods, it encourages industrial production."

Personally, I think trends are stupid--or rather, people who try to be trendy are stupid. My philosophy is to buy basic pieces that aren't going out of style for a while, build a wardrobe with those things, and occasionally buy something that's "in" at the moment. But why would you want to spend tons of money on trendy things that will be "out" next month (in this case, just because it looks like a Louis Vuitton purse or Chanel sunglasses).

Such is the consumeristic money wasting that Americans adore engaging in, I guess.

Offending Catholics one eyeliner at a time

I'm going to preface this by saying that I'm Catholic and I find this hilarious.

So I read an article from MSNBC (courtesy of Mom) about a British cosmetics line by Topshop that got kicked out of stores in Singapore because it offended Catholics, who make up 15 percent of the population.

The line is called Jesus cosmetics (I can't help but laugh every time I say it aloud) and "extolled the virtues of 'Looking Good for Jesus'".

The photo is an example of something you'd have found on the shelves in Singapore before the line got banned. It just looks so goofy.

I don't know who comes up with this stuff, but it's great.

The Agony

I've decided that a modern form of torture (that's torture in the medieval sense) is applying for things.

When you've received someone's application for a job or, in my case, graduate school, you have a lot of power.

You can twist someone into cardiac arrest by making them wait for weeks. The waiting is the worst part, of course.

Then you can call the applicant for a friendly chat and get his or her hopes up, and make him wait some more!

I'm not sure if it's just the workings of democracy or an intentional playing-hard-to-get tactic graduate schools (and some companies) use, but it sure does wreak havoc on the applicant.

So as my anxiety grows because the graduate schools are keeping me waiting and waiting and waiting (except U of Oregon, who said two weeks ago they'd love to have me), wish me luck.

Thoughts on Housing

The terrifying thought of having to move again has been on my mind lately.

It's not terrifying because moving scares me.

It's terrifying because I have to find somewhere to live and move in to by the end of May.

That seems like a long enough time for most people, but some of us just need closure, reassurance and a good amount of time to plan.

Although I'm not sure whether I'm going to stay in Tucson or move to far off and exotic locations like Chicago or Urbana, Illinois, or Eugene, Oregon, I feel like I need to start looking at housing already. Doing so is, unfortunately, depressing.

I started by looking at Tucson. Not because I want to move out of my current apartment, which I love. But because there might be the opportunity to find a just-as-nice place closer to campus, which would mean I could waste less gas driving around Tucson 5+ days a week.

But everything worth looking at is available NOW. Not in three months, not in four. But immediately.

Nobody else seems to think ahead and say, hey, I'm moving out in May. Maybe someone looking to move in a few months would be currently looking for a place like mine. No, the housing market close to campus seems to be such that you up "For Rent" signs and ads after you've moved out and hope somebody snatches the property up immediately.

Why is this particularly terrifying?

Because last year we looked and looked in February for a place to live. And all the landlords said, "You have to wait until after spring break." So we did. And the first week of school after spring break, EVERYTHING WAS ALREADY RENTED!

If only everyone else was a plans-in-advance person like me. Things would be so much easier.

More Complicated Than Necessary

Most upper-division coursework is time-consuming. It' s not all hard, challenging, difficult, etc. But it's time consuming. Working on a thesis is an added time-eater. But working on two theses is even worse.

It's been a joy to do a thesis in the UA German studies department. It's very relaxed, deadlines are flexible, and I have a lot of freedom in the topic I can use and type of research I can do. Even though it's a lot of work, it doesn't feel stressful.

The Honors College was pretty mellow about theses. When I spoke to an adviser there, she said I could write a poem for my senior thesis as long as it was relevant, and that would be fantastic. She did say some departments have their own requirements you have to adhere to, though.

The journalism department is one of those with it's own requirements. And let me tell you, it sucks.

It makes the most sense to me that, on a two-semester project, you spend one semester doing research and one writing, editing and turning in the thesis. Not so in the UA journalism department.

Instead, you spend one semester writing a proposal. A proposal about the thesis you're going to do. You can't do research until you've finished the proposal, which takes the whole semester.

Then, you're expected to start your research over winter break. You know, during the time you spend with family and friends you haven't really spent time with since the summer. Time you should be spending unwinding, especially after a semester of 22 credits. But no, the journalism department doesn't allow rest.

So coming into the spring semester, I hadn't done much research for the journalism thesis. Honestly, it just wasn't feasible during my busy (and partially sickly) winter break. And I don't think it should have been required.

I met with my adviser this week, three weeks into the semester. I basically got in trouble because my research isn't done yet. She asked how much my grade and the thesis really meant to me, and suggested I take another semester to do it. Why? Because she doesn't think I have the time to produce anything remotely good.

Gee, it's not my fault I have less than one semester to do a shit-ton of research AND write a 50-page thesis.

I mean, who comes up with these rules? Why do you have to write a stupid proposal for something when you're supposed to be working on that something? Today, I feel writing a proposal was a complete and utter waste of my time when I could have been doing research that was meaningful to my work.

If the department wants students to write a proposal so badly, they should make it a pre-requirement for the thesis--something you do the spring of your junior year. That would make so much more sense and would be a far better use of time. That way you really know you want to work on your project before you get started, and you have plenty of time to do the necessary research. But I don't make the rules.

So for all those honors students out there considering a thesis in journalism, write it for your minor or your other major, but NOT for journalism!

SNOW!!!

Ok, so it's not snow. Not really. Not all of it, anyway.

I woke up this morning to discover my car was white. Not with frost as Ian insisted, but chunky, cold, white, glorious, gleaming snow.

Granted, it was gone by 8:30 am, but I was super excited anyway.

Based on my previous calculations, it should be 70 degrees this week. But it was cold enough to snow last night, it's been rainy and chilly. And you know what? The forecast calls for "bermuda shorts weather" this weekend.

PROOF! Proof that the weather in Tucson really is on acid.

Cruel, cruel weather

January and February in Arizona: schizophrenic.

Anyone from anywhere else would wonder how I can possibly compare the first months of the year with a mental illness. It's really quite simple.

First week of January: 60s
Second week of January: 70s
Third week of January: 65
Fourth week of January: 40s
First week of February: 55
Second week of February: 70s (my prediction)

That's the temperature, rising up and down, back and forth, all over the place.

Not only is the temperature wild and crazy, but so is the weather. Rain, sun, rain, sun, clouds, clouds, sun, rain, sun, clouds, Snow. You can never be prepared for anything--you never know what the day will end with.

And what's worse, is if you go shopping, store displays are just there to rub it in. Going shopping the second week of January, all the winter stuff is on clearance. Blah, you think, too hot for this stuff.
Going shopping the next week, there are shorts and t-shirts everywhere. Geez, you think, shivering in a sweater, jacket and three shirts, isn't it a bit cold for shorts?

And the worst part? It doesn't get any better after February--the weather's loony here 12 months a year.

That's what I hate about Arizona. The weather's unstable and I never know what to wear. If I complain that it's too cold, it's because it was 90 degrees yesterday and I'm wearing a t-shirt--and it's 55 degrees today. If I complain it's too hot, it's probably because it was 32 degrees and rainy this morning, so I decided to wear a sweater and rain jacket to work. And it's after work, sunny and a humid 85 degrees.

If you want reliable weather...if you always want to be prepared by wearing the right thing...Arizona is not the place for you.

Native Arizonan

After days of waiting, biting down all my fingernails at the thought of incurring $50 late fee charges because of bureaucratic miscommunication, I am now officially an Arizona resident again. Whew.

Campus Fashion

After four years, you'd think some things would go out of fashion forever. Especially things that were never fashionable or attractive in the first place, like Ugg boots.

There never ceases to be a plethora of girls wearing them on the UA campus--spring, summer, fall or winter. I have ranted about this phenomenon many times in the past; I am vehemently anti-Ugg boot.

I never really thought much about the rest of the Ugg outfit, though. The most appalling thing I've ever seen has been a girl, in January, wearing red hot pants, a gold puffy jacket with a faux fur collar and ugg boots. Coming in at a close second were the girls last spring and the spring previous who wore ugg boots with mini skirts. Those are fashion nightmares if ever there was one.

But the most common Ugg uniform is a track suit (usually Victoria's Secret with "PINK" plastered on the ass not in pink), bottoms stuffed haphazardly into the unshapely vomit-colored Ugg boots, or jeans and a sweatshirt or t-shirt (or t-shirt under a sweatshirt, take your pick). While these two combinations are more appropriate for said hideous footwear, the overall picture is a sad one. Young, attractive college women choose to run around in public looking like slobs.

It's the uniform, it's what they do. They get up, tie their hair messily back into a crappy bun or pony tail, plaster their faces with makeup (or leave their faces pastily plain), and tug on a UofA shirt and jeans, and the most unflattering shoes possible.

What does this say about fashion in Tucson? Nothing good.

What does this say about the fashion sense of many future business women, researchers, journalists, publicists and trophy wives? Certainly nothing good.

My point?

Somebody needs to burn all forms of "comfy" shoes. Otherwise, the idea of being fashionable when you're young is just going to be something future generations think of when they think about Elvis and Marilyn Monroe--long long ago, very attractive, but irrelevant.

Putting the "care" in healthcare.

You're a student. You wake up: very sore throat, dry painful deep-chest cough, migraine, sniffly, achey. So you call in sick to work, let your teachers know you won't be in class (if you're responsible, like me). Laying in bed, you decide to call mommy & daddy to see what you should do. Mommy thinks about your symptoms, looks up the Mayo Clinic's flu symptoms check list. You have all symptoms except two. There's a good chance you can get pneumonia if you don't get treated (especially if you lead a high-pace lifestyle, like I do). So you go to good ol' Campus Health, the cheap, reliable place for students to get treated on campus.

Not.

This was me on Wednesday. I went to Campus Health. I called in advance and was told there would be about an hour wait, but some people would leave and flu symptoms would put me in ahead of others with less serious symptoms. Cool.

I saw my friend Mike there. He had similar symptoms, had felt sick a few days earlier. He went in to triage because he kept throwing up. What did they do? Gave him a pamphlet on how to stop vomiting and sent him home. Great.

An hour and a half later, I finally get called in. Everyone who came before me and everyone who came after me, except for about five people, had gone in before I got called. That's about 35 people Campus Health deemed to have more serious symptoms than I did, as I sat in the waiting room in an uncomfortable chair, shivering violently because I had the chills.

The nurse takes me in, has me sit down. I tell her I think I have the flu. She says "uh, huh." I tell her my symptoms. She glares at me. She takes my temperature. "You don't have a high enough fever to have the flu." I tell her I felt I needed to come in because I'm afraid I'll get sicker if I don't get treated, like I'll get strep throat (has happened on many occasions in the past). "Your throat's not sore enough to have strep throat," she says without asking how sore my throat is. She doesn't ask what my pain level is like on a 1-5 scale, which I've been told by another medical professional is a requirement.

She looks in my ears. "They're sort of swollen, but I don't think you have an ear infection."

She looks down my throat. "Nope, it's not red. You probably have the beginnings of an ear infection."

She gives me a tylenol and tells me to go to urgent care somewhere else. She says they're too busy to see me tonight.

I start crying because I'm so frustrated. An hour and a half wait and all I get is a headache pill and a referral? Rediculous. No wonder I hate going to the doctor when I don't feel well.

"Oh, you must be a little bit uncomfortable," she says.

YOU THINK?????

"Do you have a car?" she asks, pointing out the other urgent care options on the list she hands me, without bothering to ask if I feel well enough to drive myself somewhere--which, at the time, I don't.

Infuriated, I leave the clinic and tell my parents about the episode over the phone, in tears. They are also upset. My mom calls the MinuteClinic hotline (the one the nurse suggested, and also the closest to my apartment), and finds out they don't take our insurance. But I don't want to go to an emergency room. If I have the flu, then EVERYONE else in Tucson must also be ill and in the emergency room.

So, I go to the MinuteClinic, which is in a CVS. Kind of weird, kind of ghetto. It's a 20 minute wait. And I have to pee really badly, because I didn't go the whole time I was at Campus Health because I thought the second I went into the bathroom they'd call me to come in. Some good that did me.

The nurse practitioner at the MinuteClinic is very friendly and helpful. I tell her my symptoms, and she automatically says that sounds like the flu. I tell her what Campus Health told me, and she shakes her head. I tell her about the pamphlet they gave Mike, and she laughs scornfully. Campus assholes.

She gives me a flu test--she takes a long q-tip and swabs the insides of each nostril, way up inside and very ticklish. It takes 15 minutes to "cook", during which time she fills out my information on the computer and takes down all of my symptoms again.

After 15 minutes, the test says I am positive for Type A Influenza. Gee.

She prescribes me two meds and I get to go to the pharmacy to have them filled. And, there was a promo with my insurance company, so I only had to pay for the visit, not for the flu test. $59 is better than $96.

I was also told not to go to school or work for five days so I don't morph into a sticky bundle of pneumonia. If I'd followed Campus Health's instructions, I'd be out spreading the plague all over the place, and probably waking up with cold sweats and rust-colored sputum (the danger signs the nurse practitioner said I needed to watch out for for pneumonia).

So, I'm going to file a complaint on campus. Clearly, the triage people just wanted to go home (it was getting close to 5 pm). And what kind of urgent care center is only open until 5 pm, especially on a campus with 37,000 students and god-knows-how-many faculty, staff and employees? And giving a bad diagnosis just so you can turn students away? That's outrageous, and it's poor practice.

Playing Catch-Up

The more I have conversations with interesting people, the more I realize I have a movie-watching deficiency. True, I'm an excruciatingly busy college student who barely has time to sleep at night.

But if everyone else is doing it, why can't I?

That in mind, I've decided to make a list of films I need to see. I once had a nice, long list. Since then, I've misplaced it. If you think of any movies you thought were fantastic and I need to watch, please post them and I'll add them to the list.

And hopefully, someday, I'll get caught up to the rest of you.

Poor, deficient Courtney's list of films to watch:
Charlotte Gray
Amazing Grace

Paradise? Eh.

Ian and I tried a new restaurant the other night for dinner: Paradise Bakery and Cafe.

It sounded promising, plus it's a newly opened restaurant, which can be exciting.

The setup was kind of confusing at first, because it's like a cafeteria line but you don't have to go through the whole line. You also have to pay for each item you get, so it's far more expensive than your traditional cafeteria--no flat rate meals. And the sweets and pastries have their own, out-of-the way counter. I was confused and put-off until one of the staff asked if we'd ever been there before and offered directions. Overall, not user-friendly for first-time visitors.

Ian tried the roast beef sandwich and I tried the vegetarian sandwich. The prices weren't bad--I think mine was about $5.70, and Ian's closer to $6 (I didn't pay). It was reasonable.

The roast beef sandwich was apparently quite good. It included a thick slab of roast beef, plus assorted vegetables that my meat-a-saurus boyfriend removed. The bread was very crusty and looked tasty.

The veggie was sub-standard. The bread was reminiscent of squishy sliced white bread from the grocery store, and the only vegetables present were half a tomato, a giant leaf of inedible lettuce and thinly sliced cucumber. There was also ONE slice of cheese and some avocado sauce. I was highly displeased. Plus the tomato kept falling out, and the bread got thinner and thinner as I held onto the sandwich. Throughout the meal I kept muttering, "Baggins is way better."

The chocolate chip cookies, on the other hand--which came with the sandwiches--were quite good. My new friend from Germany, an exchange student named Steffi, also said she really enjoyed the cookies when she ate at Paradise.

I think I'll still go back, to try the salads and soups, and more sweets. But the one sandwich I could eat was quite despicable.

Update to the Saga

So, more about my Bursar's account charges, just in case anyone's interested. This one comes with some good advice...

The reason I was charged in-state AND out-of-state tuition is because I applied to graduate school at The University of Arizona. Apparently this changed my status to that of an out-of-state student, I incurred charges for the current semester, and I had to fill out a domicile affidavit. Now I have to wait a week until I can be considered an Arizonan again. Yay. But, the good news is it had absolutely nothing to do with Prop 300. Hah.

So, if you want to apply to grad school at the UA and you're still an undergrad there, wait until the first few weeks of school have passed (if possible, based on deadlines) and THEN apply. I don't think they can charge you a few weeks into the semester. Not that they should be able to charge you for out-of-state tuition if you've already paid you're in-state tuition, but I'm not in charge, now am I?