The almost-real world

Today I started my search for an apartment for next year. Oh, but that sounds kind of exciting, right? No. All the "cool kids" don't want to live in the dorms so us grad-students-to-be have to fight with them for off-campus housing. And because everybody wants an apartment, they don't have to be very nice apartments. But doesn't that mean they don't cost much? Heck, no! Didn't you get the memo?! Rich kids go to Ivy League schools! Charge outrageous prices! It doesn't help that living on-campus for 4 years has spoiled me to the point that I refuse to walk farther than 2 blocks to school. And I need a parking space for my broke-arse vehicle.
All I want is the top apartment with the big living room window halfway up the hill on Wheelock. I would also happily live in The Presidio, but that's in California and I'm not done graduating yet. (Hi, Morgan)

As long as I've brought it up, let me elaborate what I mean by "broke-arse vehicle." Hanover is cold. As in, last time I looked at a thermometer it said "1" and that was in degrees Farenheit. So one morning I was driving to the grocery store (or somewhere) after it had snowed, so I put my baby in 4WD and plowed through/over the plow pileup behind my parking space. I heard a crack. Great. Now every time I go over a speed bump, speed dip, curb, snow pile, squirrel, small dog, small child, etc., I hear the distinct sound of metal-on-metal. I'll put $10 on 'broken leaf spring,' anyone care to challenge?

Today I learned that the buffalo population of North America was already declining when the Europeans first arrived, and therefore the extinction of the buffalo may actually have more to do with over-exploition by the Native American population, even though their exploitation was OF COURSE much more... ...conservative. Native Americans were awesome.