Wait, what?

Dear Professor,

I don't mind being assigned readings. I don't even mind if you have them as a .pdf that we have to read. I'm ok with that. No really, I am.

However.

If you are going to assign us a reading that is not in a book we've purchased, at least make sure the file we have is clear and legible. I am not going to sit and read 20 pages of a .pdf that is hard to read because someone scanned it (poorly) in from a book.

This is ridiculous! Oh, and I can't even download the file and read it because it is totally jacked up. When I download it, it downloads in a format that my computer DOES NOT read. So I have to view it on the web.

Head, meet desk. Get well acquainted girls. It's gonna be a long semester.

Curses!

Damnit!

I want to download the Castle books (Heat Wave and Naked Head) onto my Nook. But I know I don't really have the time to read anything that isn't on my reading list this semester.

Curse you, school! Curse you!

Other people's children aren't so bad.

Remember the teacher that I didn't care for, and was pretty sure I wouldn't get along with? After the comment yesterday regarding religion and church planting and such, his response was this...

'I assigned the books that I did with the intent to wrench us outside our comfort zones. The point is, like John F. Kennedy said, we all breathe the same air -- we share this world, and we're required to learn to live alongside, and to love, others with whom we might not see eye-to-eye. Literature assists us in this like little else in our experiences. I'm not interested in censoring anyone; on the contrary, I want us all to listen to one another, to be open with one another, etc. For those of you who have been discussing your faith traditions, church planting, etc -- feel free to do so. The introductions board is for that very thing: introductions. And the subject of religion is invariably going to crop up with respect to our discussions of Blood Meridian and Blankets. One cannot speak intelligently about either book without speaking about the Bible. If a student leaves the class because he or she feels awkward or irritated by certain discussions, that's a shame, because we benefit from multiple world views. But it's also the way it goes sometimes.'

I'm really glad he stepped in and said anything. I was starting to feel like I had to speak up and defend myself. It's nice to know the Professor didn't side with this student (because honestly, I was a little worried about getting in trouble for it.) Also, I couldn't agree with him more. I feel bad for the student that is dropping the class...he's going to miss out on a good class, all because he refuses to keep an open mind.

As an aside, another student mentioned how uncomfortable she felt with one of the books. I'm assuming it is Tipping the Velvet. I'm really enjoying it thus far, and I'll be posting a review on it when I'm all done.

Oh, and I'm having a hell of a time settling in and doing my homework. Tomorrow, I'm going to sit at the table (or my new desk, if we get it put together) and actually get some of this hammered out. After I've done that, I'm going to sit and read for at least an hour or two. I'm already ahead of the reading, but I'd like to stay that way!

Pfft. Some people.

In my Introduction to Literature class, one of the things we've done this week is introductions. One of my other classmates mentioned that the Bible is her favorite book, and that her husband is in Missoula to church plant. Well, I of course wrote back to her, talking about my husband. We had a brief exchange and it was nice. Not a huge deal, nothing overwhelming, we weren't being preachy or anything.

Today, one of my other classmates said -

"A little put off by all the Bible and Denomination babble. That's all I'm going to say. Makes me feel a little uncomfortable... so have fun all. Don't worry, I will be dropping tomorrow."

I understand that sometimes religious talk makes people uncomfortable. However, it was a very brief exchange, and there was nothing pushy or rude or preachy in it. Do you really expect to take a literature class without some mentions of the Bible? I mean...seriously now.

And of course, now I feel bad about it. Like I ran this guy off. I realize he was probably just looking for a reason to drop the class...but yeah. I feel like one of THOSE people now.

And in Contrast...

The same duo from my last post, playing something a little more...classical.

Cellos, less duely

Holy Crap!

I've watched this video three times already this morning, and I just can't stop watching it. Even if you aren't a MJ fan (and really, if you aren't, what's wrong with you?) this is just...

Well, here. You watch it!

Dueling Cellists

Didja watch it? Well, didja?

Told you it was made of the awesome.

Oh yeah. It doesn't hurt that those boys are tasty. I love a musical man...

I can tell it's going to be a long semester

I was very much looking forward to classes this semester. I'm not so sure if I still feel that way.

At least one of my professors, so far, looks like he is going to be a total douche.

He started a thread on our online class forum, asking us to introduce ourselves. I started a new thread, with my name, introducing myself. He sent me an e-mail (which, to be fair, was mostly polite) explaining to me in detail how to properly post on Blackboard. Apparently, it was inappropriate for me to start a new thread. Rather, he expected me to respond to his original thread.

This is all fine and good. But it's messy and seems pointless. Ah well, what can you do, I guess?

Here's to hoping first impressions are wrong.

As for my Creative Writing: Poetry class...well...it is the professors first time using Blackboard and it shows. Nothing is really set up properly in the class yet. And his syllabus is horrible...it's fine and wonderful to give us a list of things we'll be doing during the semester, but he hasn't given us any dates. We have to write a technical study of a contemporary poet, for example. He doesn't say when it is due by, or give us any other guidelines...

I am sure all will be revealed in time. But damnit, I like knowing ahead of time what I am going to be doing. I really have to plan out my semester, to make sure I can get it all done. His syllabus? Not helping, not even a little!

Free time? HAH!

I got my syllabi for this semester. It's going to be rough, I think.

Why did I sign up to be an English Major? Shit.

School and stuff

Well, I get to start classes back up again tomorrow. I'm really anxious and excited. Of course, I have to call tech support first thing in the morning, because my classes STILL aren't showing up in BlackBoard. Ooops. Hard to take an online course if you can't access the course material.

Ah well. I'm sure it'll all get sorted in due time, right?

This semester, I'm taking Introduction to Literature and Creative Writing: Poetry. I'm glad I'm only taking two classes, otherwise I would be totally swamped. My book list for the class is pretty large...

The Secret Garden (which I have already re-read - woohoo Nook)

Blood Meridian

Great Expectations

Tipping the Velvet

Blankets (which is an interesting looking Graphic Novel)

Never Let Me Go (which I am reading right now...actually a really fascinating book)

Treasure Island

A Girl Named Zippy

I'm kind of anxious about the poetry class. I've never been very good at writing poetry...I really wish I could take Creative Writing again...over and over and over...

But yeah. I'm looking forward to classes starting back up. And finding a job. And getting the rest of our stuff here...

There are days where I get incredibly frustrated with myself. I look back at the past 9 years of my life, and all I feel is frustration and irritation that I haven't accomplished more. I escaped an abusive relationship, grew up a LOT and met my husband. Emotionally, I've grown in leaps and bounds. But that doesn't really count for much in the "real world" does it?

I just feel like I haven't done much to improve myself. It's frustrating and annoying. I know I don't have anyone to blame but myself...but that doesn't mean I don't sometimes take it out on everyone else.

I'm doing well for myself now. I'm back in school and working hard on that. I don't know. I'm just having a day...the kind of day that reminds me that I really need to get back on medication of one kind or another. Or at least start rocking the St. John's Wort more regularly.

Whew!

I've been busy.

Before moving back to Missoula, I contacted a bunch of the old crew, to try to convince them that The Camarilla was awesome, and that they should come play with me. I actually wasn't expecting much to happen with it. It's been years, and The World has Moved On, as they say. Much to my surprise and delight, there was enough interest that we decided to make a go of it.

Less than three weeks after moving back to Missoula, we have a chapter approved and we are busting our asses at getting stuff done. Don't believe me? Check out our website - Legion of Shadows - which is a pretty good indicator of all the stuff we've done over the past few weeks.

Honestly? I'm shocked and surprised, in a good way. Several old members from the Before Times have returned and have already renewed their memberships. There are others who are considering returning, and who definitely plan on coming to play with us to try it out. It's kind of overwhelming, in a way. And a little terrifying. All of these new people wanting to come play an awesome game...and they stick ME with ST'ing for Cam/Anarch. This could either be really good or really, really bad. Hopefully it'll be good though.

So yeah. I've spent a lot of time the last three weeks working on putting together a newsletter, rebuilding prestige logs, and brainstorming stuff to make the chapter go. On top of that, I've been asked to assist with the Membership Handbook Revisions. It's either an honor or a curse, and I haven't quite decided which yet. Of course, I've only read like 1,000 of the 10gajillion e-mails on there, so maybe my brain just isn't sufficiently mushy yet.

Needless to say...Cam stuff is going really well. At last nights meeting, we had 10 people show up...the 5 in the chapter, and 5 additional people! 2 signed up for their temp memberships last night. One of these days, I'll take a break and not do any cam stuff. But for now, off to work on rebuilding prestige logs more...whoooooo!

More from Wal-Mart

This is getting ridiculous. I'm pretty much at the end of my rope with this entire situation. I didn't blog about it yesterday because, well, I had other stuff going on.

Anyway, I spoke with the disputes department at Green Dot. As expected, they've denied our dispute. Their reason, 'You made a charge on your card 2 hours after the charge in Bulgaria.' I am not sure at ALL how this proves that we made the charge, but that is their stance on it. Apparently, even though I explained to them time and time and time again that the cards never left our wallets didn't mean a thing.

I have been told I can start another dispute, and provide more information. It was suggested to me that I contact the bank in Bulgaria to get information from them. Funny, I assumed that was the job of the disputes department...since, you know, they said they would be doing that.

At this point, I will be contacting the student legal services to see what we can do from here. I am tired of dealing with Green Dot, and this is utterly ridiculous. I have been advised that I should take this to small claims court, which is definitely an option.

I sent this letter to Green Dot customer service last night. I wonder if they'll actually respond to me?

To Whom it May Concern,

My name is April Horinek, and I am writing you regarding a situation
that I have been dealing with regarding my Green Dot Pre-Paid Money
Card through Wal-Mart. This situation has left me bewildered and
frustrated, and has left me encouraging everyone I know to avoid your
service at all costs. I found your e-mail address through various
other websites detailing complaints with your service.

On December 7, 2010, an unauthorized charge was made on my account in
the amount of $272. This was discovered when my husband (Colin
Douglas, secondary card holder) went to purchase groceries and it was
declined. As we needed groceries on our house so my family could eat,
he purchased just the essentials for the amount of $7. When he got
home and told me what had happened, I immediately logged into my
account online to see what the problem was.

This unauthorized charge was made from an ATM in Sophia, Bulgaria. I
immediately contacted your customer service department regarding this
situation. Since then, I have had nothing but trouble from your
customer service department - representatives, supervisors, and people
in the disputes department.

As a note - this happened on December 7th. On December 17th, my
husband and I took off on a cross-country move. Not having nearly
$300 was crippling throughout the move. We have had to borrow money
from family members and put off paying bills and it has really caused
a lot of issues in our lives.

I was told when I contacted your customer service department, that
there was nothing that could be done until the charge had posted to my
account. This in and of itself was strange, and was incredibly
frustrated. Several of your supervisors who I spoke to at this time
told me very clearly that my case was cut and dry...that there was no
way I could have been in Bulgaria making a withdrawal and then in
Oklahoma making one the same day! I was assured, numerous times, that
the money would be returned to me in a timely fashion. I was told by
one of your supervisors that I should call the bank in Bulgaria, to
see if they would reverse the charges for me. I explained, as
patiently as I possibly could, that I didn't speak Bulgarian. That I
couldn't even find contact information for this bank.

I also was advised to cancel my card and have a new one sent to me.
As I was moving in a week and a half, I was concerned that it would
not get to me in time. At first, I was basically told, "Tough. Thats
just too bad. But you can pay extra and get it overnighted!" Which I
thought was ridiculous. Eventually, one of your supervisors did send
us new cards at no expedited charge. That was one of the few things
your company did right through this whole mess.

I did in fact file a police report with the Tulsa PD. Unfortunately,
due to moving from Oklahoma to Montana, I never received my paper copy
of the report.

After the charge had posted to my account, I called your company to
file the dispute. At that time, I was told that they would begin the
process. They would do all of the research and all of the leg work,
and all I had to do was send in a dispute letter. As I was in the
midst of moving, it took me several days to get the dispute letter
sent. However, I was assured that it would be 7-10 business days from
the time they opened the dispute - regardless of when I sent in my
letter.

That, again, was a blatant lie. When I sent the letter in, I was told
it would be 7-10 business days from the time they received my letter.
Again though, I was assured that my situation was cut and dry, and
taht there was nothing further required of me. I asked every one of
your supervisors that I spoke with if there was anything additional I
needed to send your company. I told them I did not have the paper
police report, and I was assured that it would be fine, that it was
just not needed for my case.

This morning, I spoke with Mary in your disputes department. She told
me my dispute had been resolved, although not in my favor. Their
reasoning? "Because you made a transaction 2 hours after the $272,
you obviously still had your cards." As I explained to her - as I had
explained to EVERY SINGLE person I spoke with - we still had the cards
in our possession. The cards were never stolen. We had them, up
until we cut them up. No one else had our cards. But someone
obviously was able to get our information and forge our card. Mary
told me that I should contact the bank - IN BULGARIA - and speak with
them about getting further information and documentation proving I did
not make the withdrawal. As I said to her - that was their job to
research. I was told THEY would gather all of that information while
they were reviewing my case.

I was told that if I can get a copy of the police report, they will
consider reopening my dispute, and will start the process all over
again.

I am less than pleased with this entire situation. I have spent hours
on the phone with representatives and supervisors trying to work this
out. I have been reassured time and time again that I would have my
money back in a timely fashion, only to be denied on a completely
ridiculous basis. When my husband and I went to Mexico earlier this
year, I called a week before we left to inform your company that we
would be out of the country, just so that there would be nothing
suspicious on our card. It is impossible for a charge to be made in
Bulgaria at an ATM and then another made in Tulsa within 2 hours of
one another. I could even show you my passport that OBVIOUSLY does
not have any stamps going to Bulgaria.

I will be filing complaints with the Better Business Bureau regarding
this situation. At this time, I am discussing my options with my
husband and looking for advice through our legal aid office. We did
everything we were asked to do, and yet we are still out nearly $300.
Our money was stolen in what was OBVIOUSLY a fraudulent act, and we
have had nothing but trouble from your company - the company that we
chose to use, on good faith. I feel as though we have been given the
run around for over a month, and it is absurd. I as the customer - as
a paying customer who has been with your company for 2 years - should
not be treated in such a manner.

Thank you for your time,

April Horinek & Colin Douglas

Annoyed and Ranty

In fact, I am so annoyed and ranty that I don't even know where I want to begin.

Grrrr! Arrrrgh! Rar! April-Hulk-Smash! Pink Valkyrie Needs Meat Badly! SMOOOSH!

On the plus side though, tonight is happy-fun-crafty time. I gets to make shiny jewelry. Wewt and yay.

Maybe I'll decide on a ranty topic later. Maybe not. We'll see. Maybe I'm just PMS'y, so the entire world pisses me off.

Ok, to be fair, I am PROBABLY PMS'y.

So don't piss me off, world! RAR!

Wal-Mart is the devil, you say? Surely not!

Or, maybe they are.
For those of you following along at home, I give you this -

So apparently I was in Bulgaria this afternoon. No, really, I was.

I am freaking out. This just might send me over the edge, here.

Colin went to get groceries. It was denied, said we were over on our card. Which is not true, since I checked it like 4 hours ago and we had nearly $300 on there.

Sometime between then and now, someone in FUCKING BULGARIA did an atm withdrawal for almost $300. Somehow they had my card and my ATM and were able to do that.

Of course, I called WalMart (it is a pre-paid debit card so we don't get ourselves into monetary trouble.) THERE IS NOTHING THEY CAN DO FOR ME. I screamed, a lot. It is the only time I've ever screamed and yelled like that on a call with someone. Apparently, at Borica Bulgaria RFB ATM, someone was able to take our money. It is pending at the moment, which means that the bank may or may not collect on it. If the bank collects on it? Then I have to write a dispute letter and we have to hope that the bank will give us the money back. If they don't, then it won't expire until the 17th. Which means I won't get the money until the 18th. A day after we are supposed to move.

I am completely freaking out right now. We SHOULD be ok without it...but that $300 was a buffer in case anything happened. That money was to make SURE that we would get to Montana safely.

Oh, even fucking better, I had to report the card as compromised. You know, so the dickwads can't take more money. Guess how long it takes to get a new card? 7-10 business days. Guess where I am SUPPOSED to be by that point? Fucking MONTANA! They can expadite it of course, but I had to pay an extra $20 to get my card in 3-5 business days!!!

I am so fucking furious I can't even see straight. I don't know what we're going to do if the money doesn't come through. I'm just thanking god that we didn't deposit the cash we have. Without the 300, we'll be OK...but...

Freaking out. Seriously. Don't know what to do. screams I don't need this!!!!!

For the past MONTH and some change, I have been battling with them. They have given me nothing but the run-around, and we still do not have our money back. I have sent them their dispute letter, I have waited patiently even though they give me conflicting information and I can hardly understand most of them. I have been incredibly patient.

Until today.

Today was a day where I nearly went through the phone and smacked someone.

Today is 10 business days from when they received my dispute letter and theoretically, they should have had a resolution for me. First call I make, I ask to speak with a manager and I am on hold for nearly 10 minutes - at which time the system automatically transfers me to the customer satisfaction survey. How do I know that is what happened? It's happened to me FIVE times through all of this.

Next I call back, and demand a manager right off the bat. Once again, on hold for too long, and I get the customer satisfaction survey. I actually DO the survey this time, and give them all crappy marks.

Third times a charm, right? I call and demand a manager off the bat, again. The guy must have realized I was incandescent with rage, as he promptly got me to a manager. This one was bright enough to check in with me every few minutes to make sure I didn't get shuffled off again.

Before I go any further, I must state that I am not mad at the supervisor I spoke to. He did everything in his power (as far as I can tell) to help me resolve my issue.

I spent another 15 minutes or so on hold, but he was very polite, and kept checking in with me. I tried very hard not to be pissy with him, he was being competent. So he gets back on the line, and tells me he has bad news for me.

He tells me they have denied our dispute. And the reason given is because 2 hours after the unauthorized charge was made, there was a $7.00 charge at a grocery store in Tulsa. So, because my husband bought groceries so we could eat, we would be penalized nearly $300? Oh hell no!

I started yelling. A lot. And crying. There were tears and a lot of incoherency. To his credit, he apologized profusely and commiserated. I explained to him in exact detail what had happened the day that the money was taken. Apparently, that was not quite what they had in the system...even though that was what I had described EVERY time I had talked to people there. And that was the exact information in my dispute letter. He offered to speak to the dispute department to see what else could be done. I told him that'd be a VERY good idea.

He told me he had sent my information along to to the dispute department with a high priority. He told me that they would review my information and they would call me back. I told him, as calmly as I possibly could, that I had been promised that before. I'd been told someone from disputes would call me, and no one had contacted me. I also impressed upon him that I wasn't angry at him, but that the situation was utterly ridiculous. That it is completely unacceptable to treat a customer the way I have been treated.

Not even 10 minutes later, I got a call from the dispute department. She assured me that the review was NOT completed yet. When I informed her that it was 10 business days, and I wanted a resolution, she told me that they had sent me an extension letter...so it would still take some time. I pretty much got the same run around from her, being told that they were still reviewing it and that it should be resolved by the end of the week. But she did promise to make sure someone called me back sometime this week.

We have to face the very real possibility that we will not be getting our money back from this little fun time. We discussed trying to go to Legal Aid if they won't give us the money back. But as Colin's dad told him, it is an international situation. So I'm guessing that is why it is taking Wal-Mart so long to do this. In fact, I am fairly certain they will not be able to get us our money back, and we're just going to be shit out of luck over it.

I can't really begin to describe how upset I am right now. I have been given the run around for over a month, and we STILL don't have our money back. God only knows when - if ever - we'll see that money again. Their customer service representatives are rude, they are IMPOSSIBLE to understand, and they obviously cannot take accurate notes. The supervisors are marginally better, but they promise things they can't deliver on.

When this is over, we will be closing down our Wal-Mart account, and we will not be using it again. If you have a Wal-Mart money card, I encourage you to do the same thing. This entire thing has been utterly ridiculous, and I feel like I've been treated horribly. In fact, at this point, I plan on avoiding Wal-Mart when at all possible. I realize there will be times when it is the only convenient option, but I will avoid it when I can. There will also be letters written to corporate and complaints written to the BBB.

So that is that. I should be getting my student loans in sometime in the next week or two, but we could REALLY use that money to live on until then. All in all, I am totally unimpressed, and pretty much furious.

The Cam Returns!

We had our first chapter meeting last night to hash out the details of the new Missoula chapter. All in all, it went amazingly well, and I'm feeling really excited about bringing the Cam back to Missoula.

Ryan will be our Chapter Coordinator, and he seems very excited about the position. I'll be doing the monthly newsletter, Colin will be acting as ACC Charities/Socials/Fundraisers, Mick will be getting the website up and running and then Adrienne will be maintaining it, Adrienne is going to run Lost, I'm going to run Cam/Anarch, and Colin will run Mage if there is enough interest in it. You may laugh now at me running a game.

Right now, we have our requisite 5 paid members. However, meeting with the Campus RP'er group this past weekend left me feeling very positive. Many of them are very excited about trying new games (especially Changeling) and I think we can easily get them to sign up with the Cam. Plus, we'll be able to work with the Campus Role Player club and get campus space for our games! This is a huge plus, and takes a big weight off my shoulders. Finding a gaming space is rarely easy, and oftentimes is not free. This is free, and we pretty much have our pick of space on campus, as long as it isn't in use. WooHoo!

At this point, I need to get on all of the domain lists in the region. For our newsletter, I want to show that even if you don't have ANY members who will contribute, you can still put out a lengthy and informative piece for the members of your domain/chapter/region/etc. I'll be lurking on as many lists as I possibly can and smooshing that information into our newsletters. Want to know what games are being run in Kansas City? Look at the Newsletter! Or on the calender on the website!

For those of you who might not know, I am a Geek. I role play. I play DnD, I LARP, I play MMOPRG's. Fully certified Geekitude. The Camarilla is a Global Role playing Organization. We do Live Action Role Play for White Wolf's World of Darkness line. Through it, I have met the vast majority of my friends, my husband, and I have found a social group and family that has been amazingly supportive of me over the years. We have our faults and we have our failings, but we're still a family. Live Action Role Play is a like like improvisational theater. You create a character with a background and a story and you interact with other characters. It's a lot of fun, and offers an amazing creative outlet - costuming, writing backgrounds, creating this amazing rich story with other players. It's just a lot of fun, and will likely always be one of my creative and social outlets.

I started gaming in Missoula, and this place feels like home for me. I was really worried that we wouldn't be able to get a chapter up and running when we got here, and I am happy to report that less than two weeks after arriving, we've already ironed out many of the kinks and we are ready to go!

Now I just have to finish a VSS and come up with a story that will keep my players excited. EEP!

And the Plot Thickens!

So, we got the car down the mountain today. It was a little bit dicey getting it down, but on Mick's suggestion, I took her down in 'L' gear and kept pumping the brakes. We made it down successfully and got the chains off - sure enough, one had broken.

Get the car into Tire Rama, and they tell me they are going to keep it for a few days. They have the part, but they want to try a few more things before they replace it. Namely, they want to check beneath the fuse box, because when this happens, sometimes there is something messed up under the fuse box that causes it.

So I get a call several hours, and the news is not good.

To fix the problem, they are going to have to completely replace the fuse box, as well as the bracket and clean everything up. Apparently, someone has taken the fuse box out before. And broke the bracket in the process. And then spilled...something...all over. With parts and labor, he estimated it would cost $950 to fix the lights.

Totally not fucking worth it.

Once this pos is paid off, we're going to be trading it in for a new vehicle. I am NOT willing to pay that much. I'll just have to live with having only one headlight.

But at least we have brakes! Yay for no more Death Mobile!

It just gets BETTER

Yesterday, my brakes started feeling a little squishy. I put brake fluid in them, and they seemed to be better. And the brake light went off, so I figured I'd be ok.

Then we tried to get up the goddamned mountain.

We got about half-way up, and it was pretty obvious we weren't going anywhere. The chains were working, and then they started clacking. I think we broke one, again. So, I took my foot off the brake slightly to start rolling back. And started rolling back at an alarming rate.

After several minutes of terror, I was able to ease the van mostly down the mountain. At least down the worst part. Keeping it in neutral and driving on the snow rather than the ice meant that we didn't die on the way down. Or hit our roommates car. Both of which were very serious concerns. It's a damn good thing I'm a snow and ice goddess.

Problem with this? We were half-way up the mountain, and still had to get home. And it was 12:30. It took Colin and I probably an hour or so to get up there. Not because it is very far, but because there was a shit-ton of snow and ice. Guess what my husband was wearing? His kilt. I was wearing jeans, but they don't help much when the snow can still get in your sneakers.

We got most of the way up, trudging through the snow, to the place where we would have to cross the ice to get the rest of the way up. The MOMENT I stepped onto the ice I went down. Hard. On both of my knees. I proceeded to lie on the ice and cry for 15 minutes, because it felt like I had broken something. I cried and I cursed the mountain and I cursed Montana and I generally felt miserable and horrible. I eventually drug my ass up and slowly made my way across.

Our roommate came down to rescue us, bringing snow shoes. Once I got across the ice I was ok, even though I was still in a lot of pain.

My knees are both awfully pretty colors today, and they are very tender. I have several other bruises and I am still incredibly sore. At this point, I'm not going down the mountain until a) I can get a ride from the roommates or maybe our landlords or b) things melt so I can walk down. I am NOT willing to go through pain like that again.

So at this point, I really don't know what to do. I might call Tire Rama tomorrow, and see if they would be able to tow my car and fix the brakes. Of course, I'll have to ask my parents first if they are willing to do that...god only knows how much THAT is going to cost. I don't want to put more money into this vehicle, but it'll be awhile before we can afford another one.

I have an idea that maybe we'll keep the van, and just buy a 4-wheel drive vehicle to supplement it. But I am not going to worry about that until we get our van fixed. Hopefully, I'll hurt less tomorrow and we can actually figure this out.

All in all - I'm just REALLY glad we made it down the mountain safely. That could have been so much worse...

The Cam Returns

One of the things that Colin and I are doing here in Missoula is starting the old Cam chapter back up. This is where I started gaming, and it just feels right to have a larp going again. Plus - I love the Cam. For all of it's faults (and there are many and more) I do love the organization. The ability to have a global chronicle and to travel to conventions is great. Plus? I like having set rules. I like having people above you in the chain who you can (theoretically) go to for advice and assistance. It's a good system. It has some kinks to work out with the NPFO changeover, but thats ok.

Tonight, after dinner with friends, we're heading off to our first meeting of the campus Role Players group. It should be fun to meet people and wine and dine them, so to speak. At this current moment, we have our 5 required players. One of them needs to be renewed, but that isn't a problem. I have the God of Storage sending me all of our old reports and logs he might have, so I can rebuild logs for people who have lost theirs. We have a coordinator, we have a storyteller. We need a VSS for the game, and we're pretty much set. Oh, and Colin and I need to be fully transferred, but that won't be too much of an issue, I hope. I've only been working on it for 2 months, so we'll see.

This should be interesting. I am hoping it doesn't crash and burn spectacularly. Oh, and by the way, I have been coerced into running Cam/Anarch. This should be fun and exciting!

The ongoing saga of a possessed car

Definitely better then being a repossessed car, this is true.

To give some background - several months ago, we noticed a horrendous grinding noise from one of our brakes. After much cursing and some fretting on my part (car things make me freak out like nobody's business) we took the van into Midas. They promised they'd fix it first thing in the morning.

Come the next morning, I get a call and they tell me that one of our headlights is burned out. This is...odd, to say the least, as I hadn't really noticed it beforehand. I tell them to change it, and that I'd be there in several hours to pick up my van.

I get to the shop, and I am told that there is more to the problem then they initially thought. After changing all of the bulbs in my van several times, and fussing about, they come to the conclusion that the modulator-convertor-alternator-computer thingy bobber is bad. They quote me a price of nearly $600 to get a new one, along with a wait of nearly two weeks. I'm not so keen on this idea, and decide to go the used route. They call around, and find no used ones, but assure me that a used part of this kind will work just fine.

They LIED!

We get the part, change it out. It doesn't work. I send it back to the company, get another one, and it works. For the first day. See, the funny thing about this particular problem is that it doesn't happen all the time. When my lights are on, my drivers side light is out. When my brights go on, my passenger side goes out. Every time I explain this to a mechanic, they look at me like I've grown a second head. This thing happens sporadically, sometimes even flashing off and on while we're driving down the highway. We get pulled over several times, but we always explain we are working on it, and we never get a ticket.

After last nights fun little adventure in super freak out mode, we took the car into Tire Rama. If you live in Missoula, go to the Tire Rama on Stephens. They are good people, and they've always taken good care of me. And the owner is from the hi-line. My parents are going to pay for this little fix, so I give him the information and my name.

I tell him my name, and I get, "So! Who do you belong to?" and we begin to discuss my family. It sure is nice being back in Montana and related to half the state. ;)

They find what they believe to be the cause of the flashing, honking, pea-soup-spewing antics of my van. There is a large amount of corrosion on my battery, and they feel that triggered the alarm system. Plausible cause, and as long as my car doesn't go all Linda Blair on me again, I am content to let it rest.

And then we begin to discuss the bizarre headlight issue we've experienced. And they tell me that Dodge has issued not one, not two, but FOUR new parts since my car was released in 2000. Which means that when we got those used parts? We were getting old ones. That didn't work, and still had this issue. Yeap. $400 or so in parts and labor down the damn drain.

The shop here quotes me $400 for the part. Ugh. I call Mommy, and she gives the green light. It's something that has to be fixed eventually and they tell me at the shop that if it doesn't work, of course they'll send it back and we'll be back to the drawing board.

So now, I have a car that (hopefully, knock on wood) will not decide to randomly beep and flash and murder Catholic priests. As long as THAT stays good, I really don't care if I only have one headlight.

Tonight? Off to a jewelry class while the husband heads off to a night of BASH with friends. I am feeling less anxious today, and less likely to stab things in the face. I don't feel like I need to curl up and cry, and I think that maybe - just maybe - everything is going to be ok.

Total Frustration!

You know what I really hate? Being the way I am. Being manic-depressive with a bad back and hips that like to pop out of place and a totally fucked up gastric thing. I hate the way I react to the world around me sometimes, and it really makes me wonder why I even bother leaving the house some day.

Every time I get like this, I remind myself it is just another downswing, eventually I'll get over it. I just have to soldier through a few days of wild mood swings and tears and frustration with everyone and everything around me. That doesn't help much.

Today was a BAD day. There were some bright points, this is true. We got a bed off Freecycle, that was definitely awesome. Not so awesome was trying to find a way to get it in the van, and my husband and I screaming at each other in the street as we fought with the damn thing. Eventually I caved and acquiesced to his plan to put it on the roof. It worked, which only fueled my frustration when I felt like I got my nose rubbed in it.

Then, we went to attempt our goddamn mountain...only to find out that one of the chains was broken. More screaming ensued, before trekking to WalMart to exchange them. First WalMart didn't have them, but the second one did. Success! Off to coffee to relax, because I knew if I went home, I'd go to sleep and that would be that. Met up with the roommates at coffee, had a lovely time, decided to partake of Five Guys burgers before heading home. Mmmm burgers.

On the way to the burger joint, my car decided it was possessed. Lights flashing, horn honking, and I kind of totally freaked out. Found our way to a side street, and commenced freaking out some more. Couldn't figure it out, called the roommates. Their suggestion was to unhook the battery...would be awesome if I knew how to do that (well, I do now, but I didn't then.) Some kindly man stopped, suggested I try a gas station down the way. So, I did just that. They removed the fuse for the horn, so at least that stopped honking, and told me the lights should go off on their own.

I proceed to call Mommy and Daddy and beg them to help us out. They agree to pay for it, and we'll pay them back. So now we at least have a payment method for the crap, just have to get it there and get them to fix it. We get home successfully, no death up the mountain (I'm always a little worried that I'm going to drive off and die...) We get the battery unplugged, and when we plug it back in, no more crazy flashing.

It's going in tomorrow to get looked at. I don't need my car to spaz out at me like that on a regular basis.

We have a bed. That is important.

I love Missoula, and I am VERY happy to be here. Today though, I am just completely fucking frustrated!