is there something i should know?

i'm mostly just procrastinating right now, but i would appreciate input if anyone has it.

within the last month or so, i received 2 different letters in the mail concerning my student loans.

the first letter came in mid february.  it said, "dear student, your enrollment status has dropped below half-time.  you will be required to start re-paying your student loans on june 16th, 2011."

then i got a second letter in early march.  it said, "dear student, your enrollment status is exactly half-time.  you will be required to start re-paying your student loans on june 16th, 2011."

now, neither of these statements are true.  i am (and always have been) a full time grad student for 15 months now.  i have been taking 6 credits per spring/summer/fall semester.  (4 credits is considered full time in my program.)  my expected graduation date is december of 2011.

anyway, i called the student loan service and after 15 minutes of talking to a computer and pressing buttons, i finally got in touch with a human.  his name was something like "da'fon" or something along those terms.  (forgive my fargo ignorance, but at least i could understand most of what he said."

me: "yeah i got this letter in the mail telling me that my enrollment status has changed...?"
da'fon: "let me look up your file."
me: "sure."
(a few minutes pass)
da'fon: "well, i have your file here, and you should be getting another letter in the mail soon updating your status to full-time."
me: "great!  i was concerned that i was going to have to pay back loans starting in june...there's no way i could possibly do that!"
da'fon: "no, don't worry about it.  we have your expected graduation date of december 2015...you won't have to start paying a thing back until june of 2016."

as much as i wanted to ask, "huh?" or "what?" or "what are you talking about 2015?" i just held my tongue and said my goodbyes.

so here is where i am confused.  i know for a fact that on my FAFSA i put my expected graduation date (from my master's program) as december of 2011.  so there is no reason why i would be graduating in 2015. is there a way that my advisor/head of the department could have already admitted me into the phd program and thus that info had already been sent to the student loan services?  (but that scenario doesn't make any sense either.  why wouldn't i know about this?  how would that info already be in the hands of the student loans personnel?)

at this time, i'm not going to worry about it.  but--hypothetically speaking--if i finish my master's in december of 2011 and then don't get into a phd program...the honest ahmed would come out and play.  there is no way i could just sit on my loans for a few more years...i would definitely call back in and say, "actually, i graduated in december of 2011 and will have to start paying them back in june of 2012."

i just don't get why i would have to wait so long to pay them back...anyone know?  do grad students get a longer time to pay back loans?  (i really doubt it...but i haven't investigated into it at all.)  your input is greatly appreciated (although, by all likelihood, there was just a simple error made...nothing more, nothing less).

one last thing: bockmed may or may not be making an appearance in my apartment this weekend.  i'll keep you posted...but if he does come...i assure you some video blogging updates live from a flooded apartment complex.  take care world.

the morning after

so i woke up at 4:46 am with contacts glued to my eyeballs, tabasco sauce on my breath, and my laptop sitting open on my lap with 30 rock playing on loop.  (does that last part ring a bell?)

it was a pretty good  night.

to make the long story short, tom and i first went to monte's around 10 pm.  slowly but surely we were joined by jarod, stiche, jeff, shannon, nathan, and nick.  i had only consumed about 3 beverages and was feeling just fine--there was no buzz going on whatsoever.  i had also bought a round for tom and nick, and was suddenly overcome with nostalgia.

chad (bartender): "another one?"
me: "i think i want a jameson, ginger ale, and tabasco."
tom: "no you don't."
chad: "a what?"
me: "chad, chad, chad....one night i came here absolutely obliterated and asked you to surprise me with a drink.  so you gave me a jameson, ginger ale, and tabasco."
chad: "no didn't."
me and tom day simultaneously: "yes you did!"
chad: "wow, i must have really been an ass that night!"

chad then proceeded to pour a drink that was about 40% tabasco, 59% jameson, and a splash of ginger ale.

it basically tasted like spicy pickles.  it was something i will probably never do again.

after that i needed something to get the horrible burn/taste off of my tongue.  so i had a number of other drinks.  and then later we asked for our tab.

grand total: $23.75.

me: "ummm, i think the alcohol is making me honest, but you're missing about 6 drinks here."
john (bartender): "what's that?"
me: "on my tab i'm missing like 2 anchors, a bud light, an old fashioned, and that lovely tabasco drink."
john: "yeeeeah....we felt kind of bad that we apparently did that to you last time...so anything that is missing is on us."

hahahaha.  what an evening.

pre-blizzard prep

between watching the news and reading the newspaper, i've learned that starting tuesday afternoon through wednesday evening, we are expected to get 17 inches of snow.

but not just any kind of snow.  the type that falls between 30 and 35 degree weather.  so, basically, we're going to get a combination of snow, sleet, rain, and ice.  this sounds glorious.

i decided to run a few errands tonight because i don't want to touch the roads tomorrow.  (and by "errands" i mean i went to one destination.)  my fridge is now stockpiled with 3 40s, too many bombers, and plenty of coke to get through the toughest of conditions.

i just hope school is canceled so i can enjoy it.

the real reason for posting is because i would like someone to explain the season 3 finale of dexter to me.  (note: i haven't watched anything beyond the season 3 finale...so if this gets explained/resolved in future episodes, please don't ruin it for me.)

but why...when dexter gets kidnapped by the skinner...does he leave the crime scene?  (i'm referring to the part where he wakes up tied to the table, the skinner is eye-ing him up, and then dexter decides to flip the table, breaks his wrist, proceeds to get out of the tied-up position, and kills the skinner.)

why did he then have to throw the skinner from the top floor onto the cop car?  why did he also have to sneak out of the building immediately upon arrival of cops?  wasn't it perfectly logical that the skinner (who had been going after everyone related to the prado murder) would also target dexter given his relationship with miguel prado?  couldn't dexter have explained that the skinner went after him, but he escaped and killed the guy in self-defense?

this was something i was really confused about.  maybe i really missed something, but it made no sense to me that he had to flee the crime scene.

i look forward to waking up to a blizzard.  take care dear blogosphere.

ps:  are you brackets as screwed as mine?
pps: thank you, stiche-master-flex, for introducing me to the tallest man on earth.  my life will never be the same.

The Bun to Our Rebecca Black

Spring break is over. This fact kind of sucks if you ask me.
Yeah, so it turns out I don't really have a lot to say today. I suppose I'll try to get back into work mode today. But before that...
I really don't know what to make of this "Friday" meme/phenomenon. If that was a legitimate attempt at making music 1) She hit it big, and 2) I hope she realizes that people think she sucks.
But honestly, part of me thinks that her and all her friends and her manager are just trolling us.
"Which seat can I take?" "Tomorrow is Saturday, and Sunday comes afterward?" Seriously?
Anyway, here's the unplugged version from GMA (I believe).

pitter patter

study break.

please allow me to introduce you to the most lyrically impressive song in the world.

enjoy.

Old School Tinikling

For whatever reason (read: I have a lab report due Friday), I found myself thinking back to early elementary school, particularly P.E. class. I think this country is raising a bunch of goddamn pussies today. Man, back in my day we did (the very basics of) this shit:

Schools weren't afraid of some bruised ankles or a bloody nose back then. We had one of these on our playground and kids would drop from the top and do backflips.

The monkey bars were metal and there was no fence between the gigantic playground and the small patch of woods where predators could easily lurk and kids could easily escape/get lost. I even kicked a kid in the balls once because he was bullying my friend and didn't get into any trouble. I hope Central Elementary (Norwood Young America, Mn) is still doing things right, but something tells me our soft society has gotten to them, too. I know the big bubble is definitely gone. I'm glad my childhood was in the 90s, because I don't think gym class would have been the same without some 60-year-old hardass yelling at 7-year-old kids while they clumsily try to avoid getting their shins clamped between some solid wooden rods.