Chapter XXIII, In Which I Act Like a Boob, Avoid Acting Like a Boob, and Save $20
Yesterday, as is the case on all my Tuesdays during the current semester and the University of Iowa, I had three political science courses with which to tease my brain/insult my intelligence. The first two were morning classes, 9:30am and 10:55am respectively, and the third course did not commence until five minutes to four. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, following my second class, my early routine is to walk home and use the three-plus hours' break to get some work done for the third class or relax in general. Yesterday was no exception, and I ventured back to my apartment, made lunch, and parked my brain into "chill mode." Sometime between lunch and getting ready to go back to my afternoon class, UPS knocked on the door and delivered a textbook I had ordered online to save myself $20. Imagine my dismay when I discovered that the book I had ordered was not the book I thought I had ordered but was actually another copy of a book I had already purchased. Whoops. What a boob I am.
Good fortune struck, however, as the book delivered by UPS was still in shrink wrap, just as was the book I purchased from Iowa Book just days before. I scrounged around and found the original wrapping, still in the trash, and affixed the Iowa Book barcode along with alarm tag onto the new book's wrapping. What a clever, non-boob I am. Long story made short: I returned the new book as though it were the old book and saved $20 as well. Hooray beer money! Who wants Sam Adams?
A few things I learned from this past weekend's semi-move to Iowa City.
#1. I live in a building with a lot of 21-year-olds. Keeping in mind that classes do not resume until next Tuesday, the fact that the apartment building was nearly fully occupied Saturday night is somewhat surprising. I was pleased with my own reaction to having been woken up from the music the drunk kids started blaring from either across the hall or downstairs. I smiled and thought, "they must be having fun." I might be 25, but I'm not to the "I wish they'd stop making all that racket" stage.
#2. Putting together an "L-Shaped desk" is not as much fun as it sounds, but, with the aid of a 23-oz Bass Ale from Buffalo Wild Wings, it is a much smoother operation. The aforementioned beer also makes it easier to ignore the directions for putting together the aforementioned L-shaped desk--when it says that the step requires more than one person, what it really means is that it requires you and the person who poured your beer.
#3. Organic and virtually recycled bedsheets are extremely comfortable.
#4. I live less that two blocks from a brewery.* *I knew that already, but I thought that it would mean even more to me in print.
#5. Not all states have free wireless internet at the interstate rest areas. For those of you who avoid driving through Iowa, may I recommend bringing your laptop. All the rest areas along I-80 in the Hawkeye State have free wireless. So, as you're driving, if you have a sudden urge to check this week's edition of The Onion, feel free to take a pit stop.
#6. Pete's Wicked Ale can be a ceremonial first beer.
