Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Duty Story #234

Ok, so I am an RA in a building that here in the summer we are averaging about 700 residents give or take 50. Some are here for conferences and those don't really fall under the offices jurisdiction, which is a good thing, because for some reason none of them speak English, right now in fact, it seems they all speak Japanese. And the other chunk of conference guests right now are those doing Ailey Camp (read: highschool girls). Not my bag really. But the other night when I was on call something transpired that was just beautiful. Of course the names have been changed to protect the moronic.

I was in the office, almost ready to close up shop when ORL public enemy #1 comes in and demands to be taken to the hospital. I kick into emergency mode as my stomach drops and ask her what is going on, she does have a malady (I can't give details) not necessarily one that I would consider hospital worthy, but hey, she is living in the dorms, her parents are paying for housing, they are going to cover her ambulance too. So I tell security to call fastcare (our ambulance service in the city) and I page the RD to come down to the office. The RD arrives, the medics show up, the patient gets some Oxygen, she is whisked off to the ER and all is well.

I remember that she wanted an ambulance so she wouldn't have to wait in the waiting room of the ER. This kind of pissed me off, I don't think she had any idea how expensive an ambulance costs, we are talking $1,000 - 1,500 not to wait in the waiting room. wow. It is cheaper to purchase a first class upgrade on an overseas flight than to do that. On top of this Fordham gets charged as well a nominal fee to belong to a private ambulance service.

But this is the kicker, this resident is perhaps one of the most vocal critics of all things having to do with ResLife, the type of person that would chair the FUCK RES LIFE, inc. group on Facebook, turns around and demands that I order her an ambulance, and is incredibly ungracious to the things that Fordham has offered me. Don't get me wrong, one of the greatest things that I like about being an RA is that I get to work through the system on the inside, I can help people out, I know the loop holes, I can help people through the processes. I feel like the most satisfying thing I can do is to lessen the footprint that the Office makes on people here, and it is a big-ass footprint. But the residents here give us no respect. Makes you wish they would ask their parents to pay for another school for them to attend.

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

SCOTUS

For reasons unbeknownst to me some of you may know me as a political junkie, I love the bloodsport of it really, not so passionate about one end or the either, but how it is played is what I find particularly interesting. Personally, I tend to come down more on the center-left of the playing field instead of the right, but I do honestly strive to listen and understand, and ultimately enjoy the shennagins of the winning parties.

With the Rove/Plame/KitchenSink/Wilson affair I love seeing the Republicans go atwitter over splitting semantics. I give MacClellan 4 days to start asking reporters what the definition of "committing a crime" is, or if being indicted is enough to be considered a crime. In that case what ever happened to not employing felons in the white house (Scooter Libby this means you). On the same note, the Democrats prove to be inept at the whole game of it all, maybe their mistake is that they take it too seriously and that they are in it for the love of something bigger, not just the love of power.

Which leads me to SCOTUS, tonight! we have the announcement of Bush's supreme court nominee and the networks all day long have been guessing who it is going to be. 9 PM, in the middle of prime time, just to release a name?!?! Seems to me that they could have just put out a press release, or heaven forbid, just leaked it and it would have the same effect, really, what is the president going to say that demands a full half hour of time, Up or down vote!!. I propose a drinking game, one shot for each up or down vote uttered, two drinks for "Dredd Scott" codeword for Abortion. And one drink if he mentions Roe v Wade outright as well. To Mr. President, it is on!

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Way too long

It has been way too long between posts, for this I apoligize. I am still suprised that there are 25 people a week or so who have faithfully dropped by to see what I have to say. Sorry about the inconsistency.

To recap a bit, the end of the school year ended without finale, Summer began, I rehearsed with Keigwin + Company which has been fantastically fun and a terriffic learning experience. As well I have started waiting tables at a venerable Mid town east establishment that was frequented by Frank Sinatra, Zsa Zsa, and the Kennedy's. Waiting tables is hard work, but it is coming around to me. The downside is that my iPod was stolen at work, who the fuck steals an iPod. Bastards. So I am contemplating replacing it but I am not sure with the risks of walking around with one these days. I got home for a brief stay and managed to get up to the mountains with the fam, read a lot (Cervantes Don Q.) and drank a fair share as well (Grey Goose). In all it was incredibly relaxing. And now I am prepping for the big family adventure to Europe where we are going to backpack through the Swiss Alps, fantastic, I can't wait.