Man of the House?

Yes it’s true. When living with roommates I find that you create a microenvironment reminiscent of the family. There’s always the ‘mother-hen’, the ‘father-figure’, and the ‘annoying brother/sister’ (no one has adopted that role yet). Anyways, the other night while studying I was interrupted with a knock on the door to open a jar of pickles. I thought to myself – why wouldn’t you just run the jar under a hot tap, instead of interrupting me (not that I mind being able to display feats of strength). But then I got to thinking about when I lived at home, if my father or brother were around I would just ask them for the same thing.

The other day I tried to remove the thermostat, and put it in a better location at the suggestion of my father (the settings don’t function and the thermostat is sitting right on the AC unit). So I pulled out my multitool (20 tools in 1 – beat that), and began to try to pry it off without any luck, and a lot of trepidation about ripping the wires completely out of the thermostat (you never want to be stuck down here without AC). So I screwed the thing back on, and began putting away my multitool when I heard a roommate incredulously ask – ‘what is that?’ (Reminds me of childhood days, when I would have a little ethnic food in the lunchbox). Okay, so maybe I’m not that useful in my ‘family role’. Another incident occurred in trying to tape up the AC vents which are situated so high along the wall, that even while standing on a chair, I still wasn’t high enough (and I’m the tallest roommate). So with no ladders that we could borrow, moveable tables to fit through our door, or anyone around that had excess growth hormone in their childhood, there was only one thing left to do: squat one of the other roommates while they’re standing on my shoulders so they could reach it (make sure you do your squats, you never know when they may come in handy).
It’s funny though, because if my father, brother, or Raz were here, I would simply leave those problems for them to solve. I guess when you know there is someone there to depend on for certain things; you subconsciously take advantage of it.

Alright, enough of my fluffy reflections. This week was definitely better than the last. I’ve gotten into ‘study mode’, have begun developing somewhat of a routine (I’m addicted to routines wherever I can make them). I am going to be a tutor for the Department of Educational Services, facilitating biochemistry for 1st semester students (I get paid a whopping 5 USD an hour), and I’m getting certified this weekend to be a CPR instructor so I can make a little cash on re-certs in hospitals when I go to the states (this is really annoying because my Canadian certification as an instructor, apparently doesn’t count for anything!). Anyway, I'm off to a physio study group yippee!