C1: Cold and out of breath

I’m following some sound advice and writing this entry in MS Word. I don’t usually do that, because I like the interface of the blog. The input is part of the creative process in some really weird way. But I’m doing this today because the computer has been freezing like a muthafucka today and I’m very concerned.

So today’s adventure in school prep was OSAP form signing – AKA: how to spend an hour and a half trying to take a piece of paper 8 feet across the hall. I arrived with all my pertinent information – SIN, Photo ID, and Bank Statement for that fershlugginer direct deposit – and ready to stand in line. And stand in line I did for a good 10 or 12 minutes until at last it was time to fill my shit out. No real problem there, they confirmed “you don’t have a job, do you? This is how much money you get?” and I signed and took my papers over to the next table. After some waiting, I sit down, and it looks like I’m gonna escape hassle-free and in good time.

Not quite. Big problem, the bank branch number is withheld from my bank statement (as on all TD statements) for my own security. They suggest bringing a void cheque, but I don’t use cheques, so this was my only shot. Last year, I didn’t even have that. I didn’t even know I was supposed to sign the OSAP thing. I just happened to show up at the school one day and see the signs and be like “oh crap I should probably be doing this.” As such I couldn’t do direct deposit and just had them send me the cheques. This year, they were damned insistent on direct deposit. So she had me call the bank. Except I don’t know the bank’s number. Also, I don’t have a phone. So off I go, truckin’ it on down the road to TD bank to get the branch number. Thankfully, TD employs only the finest and most courteous women at its help desk, so I was able to get what I wanted with little stress. And back I go, for about three minutes of signing, and at last I can go home. And somehow, that was over an hour. Nutty.

I had been having terrible luck today. Like I said, I haven’t been getting along with my poor computer. An upgrade is in order. Also, I spilled my coffee, which was irritating. And then after that whole ordeal with the OSAP forms, I was really starting to get irked. Finally, when my computer starts being civil with me, I relieve my stress with some (rare) online poker. Something happens, my luck changes, and I turn $500 into $6000 in only a few extremely lucky hands (I should note that the guy who had several thousand when I walked in was going all in on every hand – not a great strategy if you don’t want to lose.) Today’s Chinese proverb: “Fortune comes in many disguises.” Fitting, I suppose.

The new fall season looks like shit. I was reading TV guide, and pretty much nothing looks palatable. Hourlong dramas are king, ever since Lost and Housewives started kicking ratings ass. There are Sci-Fi dramas, spy dramas, lawyer/crime dramas, medical dramas, etc etc etc… no good comedies on TV this season. What used to be the staple of television programming (remember “Must-See TV?” Those were the days,) is now an afterthought, with a few shitty-looking sitcoms and the questionable Tina Fey project “30 Rock” serving as the only single camera sitcom of the season. I guess that after The Office, Scrubs, Arrested Development and My Name is Earl, everyone with enough vision to mount a single-camera show has either already got one or is burned out on the network not supporting them (that would be AD.) Bah, the whole thing just annoys me. Of course, it’s easy for me to complain from this side of things. If I had to program a TV network, I probably wouldn’t have a clue. But it’s not my job. It’s my job to watch, and as a viewer, I am not impressed (I am just patently un-attracted to one-hour dramas, and that’s all there is to it.)

What do you know, I made it through this whole thing, and the computer didn’t freeze. Go figure.

Oh, and a note to everyone out there: don’t ever grab a flashlight and look down your sink’s drain. It’s just not worth it.

…aww, you just went and did it, didn’t you?

Keep on rockin’
-Scott