So, as many of you who have talked to me in the last oh… 3 and a half weeks know, the refrigerator in my apartment died. Luckily, one of my housemate’s boyfriend had a mini-fridge he loaned us. It wasn’t big enough to fit all our stuff in, and it was a pain in the butt, but hey, at least we could keep a few things cold. My landlord was in Florida when I called and told him it was broken and he said he’d get a new one for us when he returned in 10 days. Well, we’re still living out of a mini-fridge. His advice? “Knock on the door to apartment 3 and see if they’ll let you keep things in their refrigerator.”

Sorry buddy, but that doesn’t fly with me.

Yesterday afternoon, I turned on the hot water to find nothing but a trickle emerging. Luckily I’d already showered, and because I was busy with a fashion show I was engaged to photograph, I didn’t get a chance to call him. After I finished shooting the MTU’s ROTC commissioning and then the commencement ceremony today, I called him about the hot water (hot is an overstatement, it doesn’t even break 100F). Apparently he found a leak in a pipe yesterday and turned off that water heater. He couldn’t get a plumber here Friday, but has one coming on Monday. You know the funny thing though? I was listening to the radio the other day and heard an ad for a company that does plumbing/electrical and is available on the weekends. Not to mention that a bit of tape or sealer should provide a temporary fix. Instead, I guess I get another day of not showering and shaving out of a bowl with water I heated on the stove.

It’s enough to get me wondering whether I should sue him. At the moment, he’s in breach of the Houghton Rental Code, sections 14-176 and 14-238.

I really just can’t wait to move out of the Blanche Apartments.

While I often complain about my classes – how I’m taught things that I already know, how I don’t find them useful and how many of the education professors I have can’t seem to teach… there are moments when I’m reminded how much I love my chosen career path.

Today I was working on a plan for the micro-lesson I have to give in class tomorrow and grew excited by the possibilities of discussions we could have. I got excited about the topic matter we were going to discuss, by all the possible ways the discussions could turn. Teaching is excited because you enter the classroom with a plan and some days you make it all the way through it… and some days you start talking about something even more interesting that one of your students has brought up. And the whole time – you’re helping to expand someone’s mind, getting them to think about things they’ve never thought about before, in ways they haven’t thought before.

It’s moments like the one I just had that make the drudgery of my undergrad worth it. At this particular moment, the next 4 weeks of school don’t seem so awful, they don’t seem so long.

Earlier this week I received a letter from Cingular informing me that more than half of my calls were made off network and therefore, they were terminating my contract. I called and got a promise that they would unlock my phone (I’m still waiting on the code and instructions… they told me it would take 10 business days to get).

After checking out the other providers (all of whom offer basically the same service), I got on my parents’ family plan (hey… it’s $11/month instead of $45). I got my new phone today and it has been activated. If you want my phone number and didn’t get a call or email from me with the number, please leave me a comment and I’ll get it to you.

P.S. Cingular, you’ve lost a customer for a very long time.

I’ll be in Minneapolis at the beginning of next week. If you’re interested in meeting up with me, let me know.