Aggieland, Midterms, and Much-Needed Wins

Friday was a road trip to Aggieland!! We had a little late start, but we were on the road by noon. Let me tell you about that fucking drive. Good God, I had to fight the fucking wind for five hours—it was by far the hardest journey yet because of that southward wind trying to take me off the highway. I was a tense mess by the time we arrived.

Surprisingly, we still made pretty good time in spite of the wind. Teegan had a late class on Friday at six, but we were able to stop by his dorm before he took off. Yvette and I decided to check out the bonfire memorial. I was surprised by how emotional it made me. To think that 12 young men died in that spot just having fun and going about the usual business of building the homecoming bonfire. Terrible. I remember it from 1999.

After his class, we all went to a Louisiana-style restaurant called TaD’s Louisiana Cooking. It was actually rather tasty and fun. All of us probably ate more seafood than we needed to eat with a football game and tailgating the following day. Oh well. How often do we get to treat ourselves to food like that?

After dinner, we dropped off Teegan and made it over to Yvette’s friend’s house. Eventually, Alaya, Hagen, and Lola made it into town. They all went to the Aggie version of a pep rally, the midnight yell practice. I was not interested in that at all. I stayed behind, made myself comfortable, and got into bed. Had a drink or two and watched some videos before falling asleep. I was tired from that damn drive.

Game day!!! We dragged our asses out of bed. It was decided that rather than drive to the game and try to find expensive parking far away from the stadium, it would be easier to drive to a shuttle location, pay only $5 to park, and hop on a bus that would take us directly to the stadium. Duh. The shuttle really wasn’t all that bad. Yvette’s friend made it sound like they packed you in like sardines, but we still had room to breathe.

Once we got there, it was time to enjoy ourselves. We walked around and took in all the sights. The scope of this tailgate party dwarfed the little Ram Jam that our university puts on. First, we were approached with free vodka shots. Then it was free beer. Next, it was free sausage links. It was such a beautiful morning. After all the festivities, it was off to the stadium to watch the Aggies play some football.

Kyle Field was impressive, to say the least. We entered on the opposite side from where our seats were located, so we really got to experience the magnitude of the stadium. Walking to our seats probably took us about twenty minutes. There was no easy way to just cut across. We had to go up and over. I was actually kind of happy that we experienced it that way. Lost.

Once we found our seats, I had a serious moment of acrophobia. That is unlike me. But damn, those steep seats and looking down on the field momentarily got to me—we were almost 18 stories up.That’s just crazy. It was also crazy to think that the stadium contained more people than the entire population of my town.

The game was a knockout. The Citadel didn’t stand a chance. It was 41–0 when all was said and done. The Aggies needed the win. It was a great experience, and I had a lot of fun. The only bummer I experienced was the price of concessions. A single 16-ounce beer was $13 bucks. Lucky for me, I had the blood money from the week before that allowed me such luxury.

After the game, we were all very hungry. The only thing we had to eat was the sausage. We boarded the shuttle back to our car and found a place called the Proudest Monkey. Would you guess who we ran into? Teegan and his friends. It was completely a coincidence. Alaya was beyond excited to see a familiar face. All of us but Lola ate well at the Monkey. I particularly liked the Monkey sauce. Very peppery.

After eating, it was back to the house for a little while. We had time to pass before we dropped off the kids downtown. I watched a few football games. Texas Tech was also having a blowout game. The only Texas team not to get a win was the University of Texas. Good.

We drove the kids downtown and dropped them off at Northgate, Aggieland party central. It was already dark and dinner time, so Yvette and I went to Arby’s. My God, it had been at least 10 years since I had last had a sandwich from them, and I was craving it. I ordered two of the classic Beef ’n Cheddar sandwiches. Back at the house, I pigged out. My God. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. I regretted my gluttonous decision the following day.

Fat as a pig, it was time to call it a night.

Sunday morning was a hard start. All the game-day antics had me feeling a little sluggish and sick to my stomach, so I needed coffee and Pepto. I made my way down the road and found a nice, hot cup of coffee. The morning was brisk and beautiful. It was going to be a pretty day. Sadly, we had to hit the road.

We assembled ourselves, and Lola’s group hit the road early, around 10. Yvette and I needed to catch up with Teegan before we left town, so we didn’t rush ourselves. Around 12:30, we picked the kid up and went to this place he wanted to try called First Watch, which specializes primarily in brunch items. I do fucking love a good brunch. I kept it focused by narrowing my choices to items I can’t get at home unless I make them myself, so I went with a basic eggs Benedict. As it turned out, a damn good choice.

After the meal, we needed to hit the road, so we said our goodbyes and got going. The drive was a real fucking drag. Pretty much the entire first half, we were stuck behind people unwilling to go the fucking speed limit. We made awful time and actually ended up having to get gas before we made it home. That was a first. I told Yvette it was likely due to the fact that we never had a consistent speed. I was only able to use the cruise control toward the end of the trip.

So yeah, the ride to and from Aggieland was a bummer this trip, but the trip itself was a grand fucking time. I got to experience Aggie football for the first time. It was actually my first trip to Aggieland where I wasn’t working, in a sense of the word. I was there simply to enjoy myself. I look forward to more trips like it in the future. It was a good weekend.

Monday morning was chilly outside. Maybe fall was here to stay. I actually needed my hoodie! The sun was rising much later, and the early birds are not rising all that early anymore. I hear the first chirping around 7:30. Those bastards are sleeping in an hour longer than I am.

It was my week stuck in the office. I had the joy. My boss was back after a week on a cruise, so the office was very much alive again. I was consistently busy with work, and I was also able to fit in some time for my midterm, which was Tuesday. I was feeling anxious about it. I’d wished I studied a little over the weekend.

After work, I went to the library to get as much accomplished as I could. I wanted to have no glitches come exam day. With the time changing, the days are getting shorter, so I wanted to get back home before dark. I found that the library was actually very much unpopulated. I figured I would have had trouble finding myself a good study spot with midterm week upon us. Call me surprised when my favorite spot was open.

After about two hours of killing it, I called it a day and went home to find Yvette warming up some of her enchiladas. I had been craving them for a while, so call me excited. They were even better than I remembered. Maybe the saying was true. As I said before, absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Tuesday was my midterm. I was lucky to have a somewhat relaxed day, allowing me a little time to work on it here and there. These online exams are still just weird to me. I guess it’s no different from an open-book test, but boy, does it feel weird having all this extra time to take an exam.

After work, I went to the library for more of the same. I was kind of wound up over it. The multiple-choice questions were no different from the quizzes, just covering everything we had gone over up to that point. It was the essays that were eating me up. I think I had the gist of it, but I still felt like I was missing something. Also, I was trying really hard to set the correct tone. I have become so accustomed to writing these blogs that I didn’t want it to read like one of my entries. I also didn’t want it to be too robotic. I was having trouble balancing the two before it dawned on me that I was likely overthinking shit. For Christ’s sake, this wasn’t an English course—I’m sure if I have the basic idea written out, I will be fine.

I went over everything one last time and, with bated breath, hit submit. It was out of my hands now. God willing, I met the criteria. Boy oh boy, I needed a drink. I sure made a point to get some drinks.

After a nice evening with Yvette eating pozole, watching Carrie, and having a few drinks, I began wondering about the future and education. I’m having a hard time getting used to the things students use these days. AI freaks me out, yet that’s one of the departments my wife is a big part of. I started to wonder how that affects education.

I’m starting to think about the calculator. When I was a kid, teachers always stressed that when it came to math, I wouldn’t always have a calculator. Well, most of us do. Our phones. These little computers in our pockets and purses—this little gadget can look up and answer almost anything for us.. Could it be that what was written in a textbook was no longer so important? Do students need to learn from text?

I think text is still needed, but the world is changing. God. I guess now people can answer most everything with an AI system. It’s weird to me. I guess it’s okay as long as the basic principles are still known? What worries me is that generations of students will not know how to do a fucking thing if they do not have the assistance of a computer and AI. If the grid does break—and it will—we will all be fucked.

All this comes back to taking my first midterm. It’s weird. It’s so far removed from my days of studying all hours for weeks to take a test within a 50- to 75-minute block. This online shit is just weird to me. I think it feels wrong in some sort of way. I don’t really know how to explain it. I am at least happy to have the mid-term behind me. Fucking hell, it feels good.

How is the semester halfway through? I guess I need to start filling out the tuition exemption paperwork for the next semester. I don’t know. I have so many expenses. I might should take a semester off? Even though I’m not paying for a full semester, it’s still costing me. Either way, I am going to be advised.

Wednesday was the usual morning routine that I’ve had since late August: going to the library to return and check out computers. I finally introduced myself to the young lady, Mica, who has been working the booth since August. I felt rude not knowing her name all this time. She has done me a solid, allowing me to keep the same computer when they don’t have any others to check out. I’m afraid that if she isn’t there, they will not allow me to check out a computer—one day another girl was going to make me wait an hour before I could check one out, and Mica stepped in and forced me through the system anyway. Good kid.

Work was rather slow for a change. I was not upset with this. It allowed me time to look up classes to register for next semester. I even set up a time to see my advisor. I just need to get past the advising hold before registration begins. I don’t want any snags. Lord, I really have a lot I need to do.

The nice weather makes it really hard to be stuck in the office. It really is just about perfect weather. I took a late drive across campus on the golf cart just to feel the cool air. It gives juice to my spirit. It’s a battery recharge. My favorite time of year finally feels like it should. I just hope that the warm spell is behind us for good.

That night, Yvette and I finished the show Carrie, by Mike Flanagan. I had my doubts just because the story has been done so many times, but I should have known it would be good just because Flanagan was involved. He does no wrong when it comes to adapting Stephen King to the screen. The story is very much the same as the source novel I read in my youthful days, but brought up to date. The bullying is still prevalent, but now it’s primarily cyberbullying. Some of the characters are just terrible. God, you just wish you could reach into the TV and slap the shit out of them. I had never seen the girl who plays Carrie before, but she does an amazing job. Yvette and I really enjoyed it, until the end.

SPOILER: Carrie lives—they want to continue the story and make a proper series out of it. In the book and the 1976 film, Carrie dies.

Thursday was a little more active for me. I had an appointment set up for Hazel to see the family veterinarian, Dr. Todd. The man saw Hazel 11 years ago when she was just a baby, so I wanted him to be the one to check her out for her annual exam. I loaded her up at lunch, and off we went. She was having a good ole time with her head out the window until she realized where we were going. I don’t know how they know. I guess it’s a certain smell in the air they associate with the vet, because she got anxious before I even pulled into the parking lot.

Inside, it’s only worse. She can’t really pull me like she used to, but she sure leans toward the door out. Of course, she is just a big baby when it comes to the vet. She never really had any bad trips, unlike Owen, who was always seeing Dr. Todd. Poor bastard.

Hazel passed her checkup with flying colors. Dr. Todd said she was looking good for her age and didn’t appear to have anything wrong with her. Once he was out of the room, Hazel knew it was time to go. She was so excited to get out of there that she nearly busted her ass getting back into the car—I told her it would be embarrassing to hurt herself in the parking lot trying to leave the vet’s office.

I got my grade back on my midterm. I somehow made a 100. I was shocked. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I wasn’t expecting that. I had been worried that I wasn’t even going to pass the damn thing. The most I could have wished for was a B. I would have been happy with that. What the fuck. A 100! I guess the hard work paid off. How in the fuck did I get full credit for the 50-point short essay question? I was so positive I had been missing something when I submitted it. I just knew my answer wasn’t going to be correct. Wow! A 100! I can’t say that I’ve ever made a perfect score on an exam. I was ecstatic.

To say that my week completely turned around after finding out I aced my midterm is an understatement. I began the week as anxious as Hazel was at the vet’s. I was so worried that I was going to bomb it that I was reconsidering taking a class during the spring semester. What an idiot. By week’s end, I was at ease about school.

I took a moment to celebrate by going to get an ice cream float. Cheers!

Friday finally arrived, and I was able to flee the office for a little while thanks to Troy calling in sick. I had some orders to pay and items to pick up, and quickly spent over three thousand dollars. In an hour. My card was on fire. If I hadn’t gotten out of the office for a little while, I think the boredom might just have killed me. No one was coming in, and no one was calling. I was caught up with my office work within an hour, so I’d have been twiddling my thumbs all morning.

Yvette and I left work early to exercise our constitutional right to early vote. We were given an hour off without using vacation, so why the hell not vote on the company dime? It only took us about 30 minutes to get there and get out.

This election was important, and I really hope some fucking change comes out of it. I am sick of the wealthy politicians holding us down and fucking up this great state. The current governor has had time enough to follow through with his promises and hasn’t done a damn thing for the common folk. He needs to be fired.

That evening, my brother Chris was in town from Austin, and he, my mom Yvette and I went out to eat. It was Cork and Pig. . It was good seeing him. Always a good place to dine. A real treat, honestly. Eat, drink and be merry. Lots of the laughs were old stories about my father and our own stupidities, but that was fine and fun.

The only thing really missing was Teegan. This was the first trip my brother had made where Teegan wasn’t around to go have dinner with us. It kind of made me sad, honestly. I miss Teegan accompanying us to family dinners.

As the week came to a close, I still couldn’t get over the fact that I made a 100 on my midterm. Is that impressive? I guess so. It really changed my mood and opinion of what I was doing. I was trying to decide if taking classes was worth it or not. That boost of confidence has made me think that maybe it is worth it. To think I was stressing about it and damning the luck that it would take place two days after a trip to Aggieland. All that stress for nothing. Aggieland was a much-needed trip, and I aced my midterm. It doesn’t get much better than that. It was a good week.

Happy Friday!