Nothing and Everything

Once again it's time for another "I-have-a-lot-of-news-but-I've-been-really-busy-and-this-is-my-first-chance-to-post-so-here-it-is" post. Good luck.

Well, I made it through my first 20 hour work/school week, and I am still very much alive . . . exhausted, but alive. I've decided that I will not do any homework until tomorrow night so that I can fully enjoy my weekend.

Josh and I wanted to climb Mt. Elbert (the tallest mountain in Colorado) on Sunday, but the weather forecast calls for rain and snow. I was looking forward to it, but I'm also glad for a chance to rest.

Last weekend I bought a copy of Battlefield 1942 and both of its expansion packs (Road to Rome and Secret Weapons of WWII) for $30. To make things even better, I split the cost with Joe. We played a few games last weekend, but we have not had any spare time to play during the week (when I return from work around 9:30 PM, he's normally in bed). The online play is the most intense gaming experience I've ever had.

As I've mentioned before, when I shipped my $300 monitor from JBU to Colorado Springs, it was somehow damaged in transit. I called UPS the day after I discovered that it was broken, and the woman I spoke to apologized and made it sound as if they would reimburse me. That was in May. I called in June and they told me that I had to talk to the shipper (JBU), so when I called JBU, they told me that I needed to take it up with UPS. In July, my dad spent a few hours on the phone (over a period of weeks) trying to work everything out. He even did a three-way call between himself, UPS, and the JBU post office. He talked rough to a few UPS people for all the run-around and spoke to multiple high-up managers. Every time it was the same crap: talk to JBU, etc., etc. A few days ago my dad called one last time and spoke to a manager. It seems that they refuse to take responsibility because the box was not packed according to their guidelines. Wow. Why did it take them four months to tell us this when they knew all of the details from the first day I called?! Now, let me explain how I packed the box: I used the original box plus the original styrofoam, but I placed a few shirts and a pillow in the box just for extra padding. I packed the box better than when it was shipped to me originally! UPS told my dad that the presence of the pillow and clothes constituted "poor packing." They reacted as if I had filled the box with open cans of tuna and razorblades and pointy rocks and fireworks and baby iguanas. A pillow! A freakin' pillow! Soft enough to sleep on! Yes, I am bitter. No hope for humanity.