Curtain-Less

What really surprises me is how much of a girl I am when it comes to things such as napkins and shower curtains. In fact, I was actually excited over how well my towels matched the shower curtain rings in my TA when it came time for me to actually break down and decide that “perhaps I don’t want showering to be something I fear due to my lack of skill when it comes to showering curtain-less.” Yes, that's right. I moved--and my house didn't come with a shower curtain. In fact, it didn't come with a lot of things, for example, toilet paper. You'd think they'd at least cut us some slack and say, "We'll give you the first roll, but after that you're on your own." But no, in this case it was more like, "You have to use the bathroom? This should be funny." I'd like to walk around on move in day and see how many rolls are missing from the dorms due to unsuspecting seniors.

After weeks of frantically observing utter destruction (or what others might consider "construction") occur within the boundaries of the TA's (Terrace Apartments), on Friday I was finally able to chill out and move from Main Building to my newly renovated apartment! I've had the area under heavy surveillance for the entire summer, watching every budge of the construction equipment within the area to ensure that the move into senior housing would actually happen. I know there were at least a few times when I called my boyfriend in terror to say "Pat! 'The Claw' is attacking the TA's!" ("The Claw" being the scary looking machine with a clawed arm) to which he would respond, "Don't worry, it's just construction equipment. It won't hurt them." With me on the watch, nothing could foil my plans of moving into senior housing, except perhaps the threat of nuclear war.

When the day I'd spent the entire summer waiting for finally came, I was prepared. I had loaded up my car the night before in an attempt to begin moving as soon as possible. Two of my housemates arrived around noon on the day of to help me with the move because some of the things I had been storing will be mutually shared this year. With the three of us moving, I predicted that we would be done in no time. Unfortunately, no time ended up being 10 hours, after which I was completely beat. Thank god I'm not moving again until May.

Originally, my friend Chel and I had made plans to go to her house in New Jersey for the weekend after relaxing with a couple of post-move enchiladas and Pina Coladas, but by 10:30, it didn't look as if that were going to happen. In fact, to make matters worse, we couldn't even lock the beautiful new door to our TA. Thinking that the ROC (Residential Operations Center) could help, my friend and I stopped there on our way out to see if they could lock the door for us. But as soon as we mentioned to the problem to the ROC worker, a look of horror appeared on her face and she immediately called the Security office. My friend and I looked at each other, shrugging, as if there was anything valuable in our house anyways. We just wanted dinner.

When the ROC worker finished her call, she told us that the trouble-shooter would meet us up at our house in a few minutes to help us with our problem. And it was after he arrived that we found out why she was shocked. Seeing as our door had problems, it was very possible that some or all of the other doors had problems as well, which could cause a lot of fuss on campus. But after checking 4 or 5 of the doors of the houses surrounding mine, the trouble-shooter predicted that our non-locking door was a fluke. Figures.

The trouble-shooter is basically one man who has to fix all of the problems on campus. This head-honcho Mr. Fix-It of the Building and Grounds department wanders day and night looking for trouble, following security's lead to all of the impending problems around campus. And as I found out when I worked Campus Patrol, he even has his own radio line, which pretty much screams "IMPORTANT!"

But of course, the one who figured out the problem wasn't the trouble-shooter, but me. "It's like it's backwards or something...." I stammered, while the trouble-shooter inspected the door handle. While it sounded dumb at the time, it was probably the most intelligent statement within the past half hour. At least now we knew the problem, but the real trouble was fixing it. At that point we were allowed to leave, and the trouble-shooter said he would do his best to come up with a temporary fix, but the door handle wouldn't be reversed until after the weekend.

By the time we were able to leave, it was ridiculously late and we had to get food at the only place that never closes: The Acrop. Of course, their menu is probably the size of every other campus restaurants' combined, but somehow they managed to whip out both a Chicken Marsala and a roast beef and cheddar Panini in what seemed like 10 minutes. But as long as it's good, I won't question their methods.

Packing List

I must admit that I’ve already starting counting down the days until classes begin (24!) due to my sick obsession with things such as homework and learning. Excuse me for being cliché, but it seriously feels like only yesterday that I moved into my second summer housing room, and in a mere eleven days I’m scheduled to take up semi-permanent residence in the Terrace Apartments for the school year.

Whether you’ve already finished packing for school or barely thought about it, tis the season—and here it is: My packing list.

Take It:

Musical Instrument(s)—but please, for the sake of my ears, and everybody else’s for that matter, don’t crank up the volume of your electric guitar to full blast if you don’t know how to play.
Mattress Pad—highly recommended, unless you like to feel like you slept on a plastic board when you wake up in the morning.
Stereo—but personally, I recommend portable computer speakers considering all of my music is on my computer anyways.
Posters—a must. It’s amazing how less sterile the white washed dorm rooms feel with a little color.
Alarm Clock—there is no way I’d make it to class without one.
Hangers
Bathrobe—no, you will not have a private bathroom.
Computer
Printer—I’ve got 99 problems, and four of them are the printers at the library.
Surge Protector—your computer is probably your most important resource. Protect it.
Fan—I have four. What does that tell you?
Coffee Pot—the best way to save money at the dining hall is to brew your own. But make sure to get auto-shutoff!
Athletic Clothes/Equipment—don’t let the freshman 15 catch up to you.
Shelving
Refrigerator—for leftover pizza, of course.
Linens
Lamps—I prefer a room lamp and a desk lamp to the overhead light.
Laundry Supplies
Light bulbs
Toiletries—an extra toothbrush is recommended. Mine was stolen once and rediscovered later with alien toothpaste on it. I threw it away immediately.
Telephone
First Aid Kit
Rug—it adds a little coziness to your room.

Recommended:

Turn Table—to impress all of your friends.
Hot Pot with auto-shutoff—useful for making Ramen noodles and other typical college food.
Video Games—the easiest way to make new friends.
Vacuum Cleaner—I can put up with a mess, but filth is going too far.
Tape Recorder—especially recommended for social science students (I would know!).
Board Games
Bicycle and Lock

Leave It:

Family Heirlooms—aka every picture you’ve taken from the past 10 years; the gold tiara you inherited from Aunt Sally; your grandmothers wedding ring.....
Tiki Torches—major fire=major fine. And you don’t want to mess with Vassar Security. For a list of these items, check out: http://residentiallife.vassar.edu/prohibited.html
Your Officially Licensed Anduril Sword of Aragon—whether your intentions are show or kill, it will most likely scare your roommate and get you kicked out of housing.
Max or Fido—only animals that can be kept in a cage are allowed in housing. Bring your dog or cat and they’ll soon find out what life is like on the streets of Poughkeepsie.
Candelabrum—three candles=three times more trouble.
Your Life Size Cardboard Cut Out Of James Dean
Fireworks/Explosives/Anything Else Questionably Dangerous


Most importantly, use your common sense when packing. Especially if you are a freshman, it’s important to take space, and the type of relationship you’d like to have with your roommate, into consideration. I had a friend who had serious issues with his roommate, and trust me—it didn’t end pretty.

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Ever since I was kid (or, at least a small kid as opposed to the big kid that I am now), I've had a thing for Scrabble. But I'm not ashamed. In fact, I'll even tell you that a friend of mine and I are training to become competitive Scrabble players. Yep, that's right—part of the Scrabble "elite." The kind of Scrabble players who can lay down a word worth 50 points and say, "Eh, that's about mediocre for my standards. I've done much better with 5 A's and 2 Q's."

I've become so serious in fact that I have even started planning the "awesome" Scrabble parties that will soon be taking place at my apartment this upcoming semester. You know, with salsa and chips, and a few, erm, Shirley Temples. I've been thinking along the lines of hosting a tournament with maybe four games of scrabble going simultaneously. What a beautiful sight. So many letters..... so many words!! But until I reach the level necessary in order to justify holding a Scrabble tournament, I kind of need to brush up my own skills first. I'm working on memorizing all of the two letter words right now, and as soon as I can list them all off of the top of my head, I'll start on the three letter words. I'd say I've improved a lot since the beginning of the summer, but I'm still not up to my top game yet. I've seen a guy snag 50+ points for "PANTIES" on his first turn, and THAT was cheap. I need to get my revenge.

And while I'd say I've gotten pretty obsessive with Scrabble lately, I'd argue that I'm not the worst. Legend has it that a friend of mine wrote an ethnography on Scrabble back in the day for his anthropology class. In fact, I don't really think that my love of Scrabble is that bad after all. Lots of people love Scrabble. It's a good game. I definitely have weirder antics, such as my fear of maps. I just can't help it; maps FREAK ME OUT.