Well, I dont have too many nice things to say about Philly, but I need a break from thesis hell and to vent a little... The last few days have not been so great and I'm trying really hard to stay positive and keep my eyes on the finish line of graduation.
This weekend we went to New York to visit Mr. F's family for the Greek Orthodox Easter and had the MOST DELICIOUS Egyptian food! It was alot of fun and nice to get out of Philly for the day. However, on our way home we got stuck in traffic and a trip that should take 2 hrs took 3 to get back. We were exhausted from not sleeping well the over the last week with Aidan being sick. Fortunately, we were able to find a street parking spot...or so we thought. On Monday morning in the cold and rain I walk to where we left the car and there were no cars for blocks! I started to panic because I had to drop the Little Man off at daycare then catch 2 buses to make it to class! Well, in the light of day with a little more sleep I reread the parking sign that says "Tow zone 7am-9am, 2 hr parking 9am-5pm" &*(^*&#@%!!!! So realizing the Parking Authority had towed our car sometime in the last 45 min (it was 7:45am) I manage to hail a cab and get the little guy to daycare, catch those buses and make it to class only 5 min late. Whew!
Then came the fun part...one of my classmates offered to take me to the PPA impound lot, which was much appreciated because the last thing I wanted to do was figure out how to get there on the bus in the rain. I also realized that the car is registered to Mr. F since it was his long before we got married, and the insurance is under his mom's name. Fortunately I changed my name on my driver's license, so at least that matched! However, just to be sure because I was NOT making another trip out there, I brought our marriage cert. Better safe than sorry.
Now, if you have seen the show
Parking Wars about the Philly Parking Authority, I can tell you from first hand experience that they are not exaggerating or making anything up. After I paid $170 a the cashier's window they told me to move to the next window for the release paperwork. Ok, fine. I scoot over but there is no one at the second window, however there is someone at the 3rd window helping the guy infront of me. I wait for a few minutes until the lady behind the 3 window yells at me that the line starts behind the guy at the window. OH. So I move behind him, then she continues to yell that I have to stand behind the black line on the floor. THERE IS NO BLACK LINE ON THE FLOOR and if there was, I'd be behind it I was back that far. Keep in mind I have been beyond polite and compliant, unlike the majority of the people ahead of me in line... and it wasnt worth the fight. Finally a 3rd person appears behind window number 2 and handles my paperwork. She happened to be very nice, maybe because I had every documentation imaginable and was prepared and polite. I unabashedly did my best southern girl routine.
I'm finally ready to get my car and head to the lot. A bunch of people who witnessed the stand behind the line incident started teasing me about it because they all saw how ridiculous it was. Then because I have VA tags (registration and insurance in Philly costs and arm and a leg)and because I smiled the lot attendant couldnt have been nicer and was concerned I might have to drive to VA that day and even washed off the soap writing they put on the cars to ID them!
Then yesterday I finally got my edits back from my professor for my thesis. NOT GOOD. However, he was impressed I had even gotten anything done as he wasnt expecting me to get him kind of a draft and figured I'd write over the summer. Hell No. I want to be done so badly. I can handle constructive criticism, but finally broke down crying in front of him, which was super embarrassing although he was really nice. I think the pressure of everything from taking care of the baby and having a home life and classes and writing a thesis and not sleeping finally came to a head. I was pissed at myself for crying but what can you do? So now I'm back to work on the edits and hyped up on caffine for the next few days. It is what it is.
However, the bright spot of the day was when I decided to go for a walk last night with the Little Man to Rita's for some ice cream and much to my delight, found a full rewards card in my purse as I was reaching for my cash! So I got my ice cream for free! Its the small things, right? :)
Ok, back to work....
