cemented

for the last month or so, graduation day and the thought of not having school anymore is exhilirating and scary. i'll just say it: the thought of graduating, still not having a job, and working at bed, bath and beyond with my degree (magna cum laude, honor's college, the whole nine yards) basically makes me piss my pants.
knowing this, i've been thinking about the possibility of somehow sticking around here and working in the athletic department: maybe extending my job at least until may so i can find gainful employment, or applying for an academic counselor position that will be left when my colleague Anna has a baby in February. these are great opportunities. if i work full time i would be able to at least start on a master's paid for by WSU, and i would get some good experience that would help me land another job later. and really, what's two more years here? it can't be that bad.
but yes, it CAN BE.
the last two nights have proven to me without a doubt that i have to get the hell out of here as fast as possible. and it's not that these events are in and of themselves terrible, or reason to make a move. but they were, "the straw that broke the camel's back" as it were.
i am a morning person, despite the complete uncoolness that goes along with being a morning person. if i've made the decision to wake up, i'm up, ready to rock. the only reason i can sleep for days while on breaks from school is because i can. but at school i wake up at 7:30 every school day and start it off. because of this, regardless of what's going on, i make sure to get at least 7 hours every night. these are precious hours, all of which have been violated the past two nights.
tuesday night: i'm happily sleeping in my bed, and all of a sudden i here this violent thump-crash followed by a car-horn blaring outside my window. i live on the third floor on the corner of the two main drags of moscow, so i'm used to traffic noise lulling me to sleep. but this time, something had ran into the building right next to mine and the horn did not stop for HALF AN HOUR. i'm pissed. i'm assuming that it will stop, and once the cops and EMS come it does. sweet release. i'm ready to fall back asleep. BUT NO. immediately after this some sort of saw-type weed whacker sound went on and off for the next hour or so. i moved to the living room, watched sportscenter for an hour, and moved myself to the couch to sleep there. it's farther from the window so i could fall asleep. i got four hours of solid sleep, and the next morning i go outside to find a snowplow and EMS still directing traffic. i have no idea what happened.
last night: again, happily sleeping away after watching two reruns of sex and the city on tbs and writing a short paper. andy and alyssa went to the bars (yes mom, people go to the bars on wednesdays, they're not drunks. it was margarita night and i would've gone too) and i went happily to sleep at 12:30. a solid 7 hours of sleep was in my future. perfect.
i wake up sometime in the middle of the night to andy and alyssa talking loudly about something. from what i remember it was andy's usual semi-buzzed rant: how corporations are destroying the world, how he hates his major and study because it doesn't help anyone (too late for that shit, andy, is what i want to say to him), and that people in general are stupid. the usual things that i study every day (racism, classism, etc) and would gladly have talked to him about at a reasonable hour. BUT IT'S 2:30 IN THE MORNING. apparently they forgot i lived there. i was PISSED. i walk out of my room, don't even open my eyes and say, "could you not yell about polymers?"
i woke up this morning at 7:30 to my alarm. only 4 1/2 hours of solid sleep.
i can't do this anymore. i can't live with people who come in drunk on a weekday and i can't sleep. i can't deal with my apartment shaking every time a semi drives by. i just can't do it.
so whether i end up being a barista for two years in seattle, i'll do it. my mind is made up. thanks apartment building.