Alright, today was considerably suckier than yesterday… yes that’s right boys and girls, life has thrown yet another curveball, and I’ve managed to strike out so far… 3rd time’s the charm, which means 1 more series of unfortunate events ~hehe… thought of the movie~ and I may as well just give up on the entire going to school thing.

I found out that my osap entitlements got reassessed, because of the piddly little income I estimated for the 8 months that I’ll be in school. Honestly, working 2 days a week is not really even worth the money, but I can’t just quit my job, since I have other bills that have to be paid. At this point, even with every single penny I’m estimating I’ll bring in (not subtracting income tax & other deductions), I’ll be short money during the 8 months of school.

I’ve already applied for a needs based bursary, which I’m told everyone gets to help them out. That said, I’ll still be strapped for cash. Now I’ve got 2 more forms to fill out before the financial aid department can even help me. There’s another general bursary, for which I have to show my budget for the school year, and there’s a form to fill out to dispute the change in osap funding because of my transportation costs. At least someone listened to me this time though, and provided the forms… unlike last time around. I’m getting quite annoyed with having to tell more than one person about my situation, in an attempt to get things fixed. For the next little bit, I will become a hermit… yes, a hermit - - seeing as I can’t afford to do anything except for go to school, return home, and work on weekends.

On top of everything, I get to the GO station, I’m on the right platform, and for some reason or other, the Westbound train pulls in on another track… We run to catch the train, I get stuck with the slowest moving person in the world in front of me going up the stairs, and I get to watch the doors close in my face.

A nice rock to live under would be nice… somewhere where the bill collectors and everyone else who wants my money can’t find me, and where trains don’t exist either.

Today was relatively uneventful, and time seemed to go by extremely fast. During my first class, I looked at the clock thinking that only 15 minutes had passed since class started; however, I realised there was only 45 minutes left from a 2 hour class. And then my second class of the day was over in a flash as well. If only all of my days were like this, then I wouldn’t feel so tired on the way home. I think today seemed much better than every other day for the past three weeks, since I didn’t have that missing tuition payment hanging over my head. I just hope that OSAP comes in sooner rather than later, so I can pay off some bills and buy the rest of my books.

In all, it seemed as if I got more accomplished today than since term started at the beginning of January. I dropped of my bursary application, and even travelled to Toronto to get my student ID for GO transit. Although, I may be a wee bit more depressed tomorrow when I actually shell out more money for transportation.

Woo Whee!!!! School troubles straightened out, I hope!

So finally today, things have improved. I got the trace back from the bank yesterday, proving I paid the $ to the school. So today, I approached the financial services department to straighten this problem out once and for all. I got my student ID card finally, my osap was released, and I got the application for the student GO pass... FINALLY!

Yay, I've got no complaints for today... so far.

Well it's been a very interesting first few weeks of the new year. I've made it through the first full week, and now I'm progressing into my second week. I still have the "unpaid" fees hanging over my head, and I'm waiting for the bank & the school to work together to fix this problem. I can't get my student ID, can't pick up my osap, can't afford my books, and can't get student fares for the GO train.... I'm stuck waiting, and it really sucks large. Garrrrr! I really can't wait for this to be fixed.

On a more positive note, I'm enjoying most of my classes... there's just one that I'm finding is a waste of time, but I think it's because the instructor isn't very organized. Surprisingly, I'm really liking the Industrial Relations, which I went into thinking that I'd be bored out of my skull. Yay, a good surprise for a change!

I'm just not sure how long I'm going to be able to last with the 5 days of school, and then working on Saturdays and Sundays. That said, working only on the weekends has totally reopened my eyes about why I liked working at the Depot to begin with. I know, this is strange, especially since the Depot has been the bane of my existence for so long...

Happy Festivus, from the Rest of Us!

Yes, there's actually a sign out there that says this... and it makes me laugh every time I pass by it. (If you're looking to see it, it's on the outside of the sports equipment store by General Hospital, right next to Tim Horton's.) So began my day :) At 6am, I definitely needed something to laugh about! I was actually aiming for the Go train leaving around 6:30, but ended up catching the earlier train... which worked out perfectly anyways. Then, leaving school, I ended up catching the train directly home, rather than transferring onto a bus, which was pretty awesome for me. So overall, today gets 2 thumbs up.

Update to the story below....

At 5:20 pm, the music finally died, which was 1/2 an hour longer than I had expected...

I went to the orientation, and this lady from the business department, bless her soul, had been fighting on my behalf all day long. She got everything changed for me, and I got to pick up my laptop tonight. Not only that, but my schedule is finally available! I met most of the people in my programme tonight... there's under 40 people who were selected from a couple of hundred applicants. Everyone seems really really nice, and one lady even offered to drive me to the Oakville GO station, so that I didn't have to take the bus. Unfortunately, I had to wait around for the laptop training.

The training ended around 9ish, so I trucked it over to the bus stop, only to find out that I didn't have to rush... the bus doesn't come until 9:13 to be exact. At the GO station, I was certain the train had already left, but I saw it as the bus pulled in... so I cancelled my ride, and attempted to get on the westbound train. This dumb lady plowed right into me, knocking me over, and thereby making me fall and miss my train. Of course excuse me wasn't in her vocabulary. Later on, I tried calling home to let my dad know that I'd be later, and the same dumbass bumped into me again. I lost it on her, and I didn't care. Because of her, I was stuck waiting another hour for the next train.

I'm home and comfy now, and all the hardships of the day will soon be forgotten... as soon as I go to bed :P

Today's interactions have led me to wholly believe that something is trying to keep me stuck at the depot. Yet again, my efforts to proceed with my education are thwarted. The bank is doing a trace on the money that the school says they never got. The lady at the bank tried to get information for me right then and there, but she didn't have access to that information. My life is now put on hold for another 2 weeks while I wait for the trace to arrive in the mail. Because of this, I can't pick up my loan, so I can't get my books. I still don't have a schedule, and it seems as though no one cares. I'm shuffled around from department to department, and the only answer I get is "Sorry, I can't help you with that." I'm quickly finding myself getting more and more depressed over the entire situation. If only I would have had enough time to physically deliver the money to school, rather than use the ATM... then I wouldn't be dealing with this huge mess.

I don't even know if I should stay for the orientation session. Watch them tell me I can't participate because my fees are allegedly unpaid. Maybe I should just tell someone at the registrar's office to refund my money, that I'm sick of all this bull... although then, I'm stuck with my money in limbo, and I'll be resigned to work at the depot, pretending that I'm happy with my job. I'm sick of lying to the managers and customers that I love my job, and that I'm oh so loyal to the compay. To be honest, a small part of me wishes that I would have been the one to rip the company off for thousands of dollars...

I've still got to wait 2 hours before this orientation session starts... I really don't know what to do. Part of me wants to stay, in the hope that someone will take pity on me for this huge mix up, while the other part of me wants to run from this place, screaming. I don't know how much more rejection I can be subjected to before I snap. I've been made to feel as if this entire situation is my fault, and quite frankly, I'm sick of it. The next person who tells me "I can't help you, your fees aren't paid," will be rightly told to piss off. Neither the school or the bank want to take responsibility for this problem, and each institution keeps on blaming the other. The entire situation is out of my hands, and I am not assuming responsibility for this, nor will I be further penalized for someone else's incompetence.

All I want to do is go to school. I've kept my end of the bargain, so I don't think it's too much to ask.

I've also come to the realization that at some point, my palm is going to run out of battery juice, and I'll be left sitting here in silence, stewing over everything that's gone wrong thusfar. If it lasts another 15 minutes, I'll be extremely surprised.

One large accomplishment for the day is that I've managed to take 4 different transit systems in one day! HSR, Burlington Transit, GO Transit, and Oakville Transit. I truly think I'm the "Greenest" person I know, at least for today, seeing as I've used that many public transit systems.

Really not a great day...

So I go to school to pickup and register my laptop, only to find that even though my fees are "paid in full" when I check the website, the school still hasn't marked that I've paid anything. Because they have no record of payment, I'm not allowed to pick up my laptop or get my student ID made. Right after the really nice guy from the school told me he couldn't do anything more to help me, even though he'd like to, I holed myself away in the nearest bathroom stall to vent my frustration. 10 minutes, and a couple of mascara smudged, red eyeballs later, I'm on the bus, and on my way back home. Needless to say, I wasted 3 hours of my day travelling to and from Oakville, on top $10 in bus/train fare. I've got to waste more of my day tomorrow, calling the bank again, trying to get everything straightened out, even though I was told everything was processed correctly. AAAAAAARGH!

Running out of time?!?!?!

Yet another year has gone by. It's so strange how fast time seems to progress each year. The older I get, the faster it goes. For example, at 5 years old, one minute would seem like an eternity. Now at 24, a minute never seems long enough for anything. I never used to pay attention to time, and now it seems like time is always on my mind. I also worry about time... "Do I have enough time to do...? How long will it take me to do this? Will leaving at __ time make me late, early, or right on time?!?" Yes, I sound like a nutcase. The list could go on, and on forever. I feel so restricted, yet at the same time (there's that word again), I'm comforted by knowing that time is constant, not something that will just stop one day, out of the blue. Maybe one day I'll stop obsessing so much with time in every sense of the word.

My first post of the New Year!

Okay, so New Year's Eve was not the typical party night... but when is it ever a typical party night for my friends and I???? I really preferred they way things went this year. It was relaxed, no-rush, and completely fun. Our girls' night in consisted of a nice dinner, and then sitting around reading "trashy chick magazines", doing the quizzes in said trashy chick magazines, watching a movie, missing the ball drop in NY, because we forgot about it :P, playing video games, and just not caring about what we as young adult women were "supposed" to be doing on New Years.

Frankly, partying it up at a bar, getting so shitfaced that you don't even know your own name, and ending up hooking up with some guy whom you'll never see again after that night, just doesn't seem like fun to me...

Things I learned this New Year's Eve (that I didn't already know)....
According to the "TCMs" and the quizzes from the "TCM's", I am a nice medium between Ice Queen and Approachable, I more closely align with Angelina Jolie, than I do Jennifer Anniston, and I am relatively good at decoding so-called "guy-speak" and body language". Oh, and I can't forget my educating experience reading the guy dictionary... Motor Boat... ROTFLMAO! Honestly, I would have never guessed.