Well, today was pretty terrible. (Except the last bit. There was food and Luigi's Mansion for that.)
I've just about reached the point of "Optimal Frustration" with Erskine College's administration. (I'll give the caveat that I could have started my part a little bit sooner.) Because certain funds have not yet arrived, I have not been able to register or acquire room and board. I can't stay in the dorm, as I'm not a registered student. I can't stay in guest rooms, as they would cost more money than I would care to spend. I won't ask to temporarily board with people I know in the area, because that would definitely be a great imposition. After discussing the situation with my Mother, Mother, she offered to help me commute on the days she's not teaching.
Now, she does know a long commute. The school to which she commuted, Southern Wesleyan, is just a little bit closer to us than Clemson. One of the first times we visited the campus (Clemson), someone pointed out the exit sign to SW. The trip down usually lasts around an hour. According to Google Maps, the Erskine trip is longer: however, it feels shorter. Maybe there's more stuff to look at? Or perhaps it's the thrill of playing the "no-speed" game when approaching the oddly spaced speed-limit signs around Due West. Either way, the trip to Erskine is still a bit more fun than the one to Clemson. (That's not saying much. It's still pretty dull.)
So, the sum of all the above is that I might become a temporary, unofficial, quasi-commuter. There's also the potential for a "sleep-over" as she teaches on Tuesday. However, fun aspect aside, I don't really want to commute. My first class is at 10:00, which doesn't seem bad initially. Giving an hour for the journey, and thirty minutes to get there, find a quiet place for Mother to teach Matthew, and for me to get to class, gives us a departure time of 8:30 and a wake-up time of 7:30. In other words, exactly what I was trying to avoid by not taking any early morning classes. But I shouldn't complain: free carpooling is still free carpooling.
And now to the "grass lawns" bit. Before Father left after his lunch break, he uttered that most feared command: "I need you to cut the grass ... at least the front." After putting it off for an hour or two, while dealing with my almost-Optimal Frustration, I finally buckled down and went out.
Long story short, it was terrible. It kept jamming, grass lumps piled up, sweat poured. I won't belly-ache any more than this: when Father returned home from work, he looked at the lawn mower and finished the yard by mowing the dreaded and feared back yard. (It's not really that big, but there's plants and things to navigate around.) He met some yellow jackets along the way. Fortunately, he's made of tougher stuff than I am, so he kept on going until the job was done.
Hopefully, the lawn won't have to be mowed again for a while. (Or at least not while I'm home. :) )
The moral of the story is to mow your loan before it's too tall and apply for lawns early.
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