Yay, Japanese Stuff!

Yay, I was looking forward to this box full of Japanese stuff, which YO, a lovely supporter of mine, sent to me. Hee hee hee hee, my pantry is now Japanese! I'd love to cook some of those right away, but I realize that I have class this evening, exactly my dinner time, and keep office hours until 8:45, which is ridiculous. Who visits a teaching assistant that late?! Anyhow, I will enjoy the Japanese stuff little by little. Thanks, YO!

Varicose Vein Supporter

OK, I acknowledge that I have varicose veins though I don't want to. This is genetic because my mom has them on her right leg, my grandma has the same, and even my cousin has the same. You can't fight against your DNA.

Before I came back to the States, I saw a doctor over my bloody leg. He said there's nothing to worry because varicose veins don't have any negative effects on the rest of the body, but they are ugly. The doctor suggested to me to wear varicose vein stockings if I like though it's not necessarily. So, after I came back to the States, I cruised a couple of drug stores, which ended in vain because they only sell size M and larger that is of course huge to me. In the last resort, I searched online and finally found size S! Great! No wonder, the Internet has become amazingly popular and prevailed so rapidly. Anyhow, this is the supporter that I bought online. It tightly but comfortably fit my leg. I will see if it slow down the development of my varicose veins.

Further Cutbacks on Bus Services

Geez, I just realized that the bus company completely terminated a route that I regularly used. Also, they run buses shorter time. This is very inconvenient! Reasonable bus services are needed more in this economically hard time than any other times. Why did they implemented cutbacks?! Oh, yeah, this is a silly question, because they are also financially in trouble. But, economic hardships make me angry!!!

Where's the Bus Stop?!

I got panicked this afternoon, not being able to find my bus stop. I know this sounds ridiculous, but my bus stop disappeared!

Since June, I haven't taken a bus because I was out of town. Today, I needed to go to school to attend a meeting that I didn't want to. Anyway, because it was cloudy and kind of drizzling and I was lazy enough, I decided to take a bus. So, as before, I left my apartment 5 minutes before the bus would arrive at the bus stop, which I would catch a bus at a good timing. I walked down the street, and when I came close to where the bus stop used to be, I found there's no pole (bus stop sign)! I got panicked, but quickly thought that they might stop stopping there because of the budget cut. So, I rushed to the other bus stop which is a couple of blocks away. Then, again, I got panicked because the bus stop that used to be there was not there!!! Finally, I thought the bus company would completely terminate that route.
I was running out of time. I rushed back to my appartment to collect my bike and biked to school.

At school, someone who lives the same apartment complex as mine told me that the bus company changed the route and took away those stops. They were the nearest and nearer bus stops to my apartment, damn it! I can't believe this aftermath of the serious economic recession.

Wow, Ow, Ow, Where Am I Going?!

OK, I missed the flights to come home. But, it is not a big deal to miss domestic flights. So, I just calmly went to the checking counter at the Charlotte airport to ask rescheduling. The Continental Airlines kindly rescheduled my flights between Charlotte and Portland and told me that I needed to reschedule with the Alaska Airlines (from Portland to the hippie town) myself. As I was told, I called the Alaska Airlines to make sure if my original flight boarding pass is valid. See, my brain was confused that time already. I saw my new boarding passes with the Continental Airlines and thought that I would arrive in Portland around 5:30 pm. The customer service asked me what time I would arrive in Portland. Seeing my boarding pass, I said 5:30. Then, the customer service said, of course, that my original boarding pass was still valid because my flight was scheduled to leave Portland 7:30ish. 5:30, which made me confused, was actually the time of boarding for the flight from Houston to Portland. Bomber!

I was calm in the flight between Charlotte and Houston. And I was still calm in the beginning of the flight from Houston to Portland. But, suddenly, I realized, watching my watch, "Wait a minute. It's 8 already, which means 6 in the West Coast! Damn, I cannot make it!" For the rest of the flight, I was in a panic status. And, when the flight finally arrived in Portland 8:30ish local time, I called my friend who was supposed to pick me up at the airport of the hippie town around 8:15 by saying, "Don't come and get me. I missed the flights and I've just arrived in Portland!"

In the Portland airport, I rushed to the Alaska Airlines concourse to reschedule my flight. The ground staff of the Alaska Airlines was nice (much nicer than other airlines ground staff) and willingly rescheduled my flight. But the funniest thing was, they put me in a flight to Seattle first and another flight from Seattle to the hippie town to finally get me in the hippie town today. It is ridiculous because the hippie town is 40-minute south of Portland. You know, Seattle is 40-minute north of Portland. Actually before the ground staff gave me this itinerary, he told me it was ridiculous, but there's no other ways to get in the hippie town in this day. Otherwise, I would have waited until tomorrow. Jeez, I never understand airline tricks.

Anyway, with the help of the Alaska ground staff, I finally arrived in the hippie town around midnight. And DS and her boyfriend came to get me. Phew, I'm home.