The Waiting Game

Again, some of my readers may know but most of you won’t, I made it to North Dakota. I made it in plenty of time to receive my household goods from the movers but when they were two hours behind schedule the day they told me to be at the apartment, I decided to call. That call is what turned this whole experience into one of the funniest moments I think I’ve ever had to go through alone (well, after my parents and Duane left).

I found out that not only were my things late, but that they were still sitting in Lee’s Summit, MO. The moving company (which I probably should not name) had no clue when they would be getting them to me. To make a very long story short I went two weeks living in a very empty apartment waiting for everything and I believe I heard every excuse in the book.

Excuses: My shipment was too small, it should have been crated, they were out of crates, they do not have a driver, they have a driver but he will not commit, the road ends in North Dakota, I am not in their system, my shipment is not with them, Oh, you’re not married…

The waiting game led to many comical moments if I do say so myself.

Night One: Do you know what it is like for your whole apartment to smell like Ramen noodles and you have no reason why!? I do! And of course I had nothing with me to get this smell out, but I refused to buy anything because I knew the movers had stuff so why waste money. However, I did have candles! Because the movers cannot take them and I also had newspaper, so naturally I tried to lite a candle using newspaper and the stove. Epic fail! The newspaper burst into flames and I wasn’t quick enough to lite the candle. Three attempts later, I went to Wal-Mart and bought air freshener.

Day Three: At work, I am out on a video shoot with an Airmen and the Commander Chief Master Sergeant. This was my second day on the shoot.

Mind you, a vast majority of my clothes are still in Kansas City along with every pair of shoes I own besides my flip flops and tennis shoes, so before my parents left, my Mom and I went on an emergency shopping spree for dress clothes and a pair of shoes to get me through.

With that said, I am on this shoot, going from place to place (in heels) and all of the sudden the Chief turns to me and says “Ma’am, you really need to trade in those shoes for some boots.” I just laughed, but in the back of my head I was thinking, “No kidding!! I had no I idea I would be walking all over this base, in the middle of this field, or down this long gravel road!”

Night Four: It would be my luck that something would break in the apartment even when there is hardly anything in it. In the middle of a shower the drain decided not to work. After spending 30 minutes scooping out the water with a Sonic cup because I had no where else to take a shower, I learn that the drain eventually works but it takes several hours.  Knowing that the drain works, I continued to use the shower until maintenance could get there to fix it. However, there was a 100% chance that the corner of my towel would fall into the full tub while drying off which ultimately led to water getting flung everywhere every time!

 The maintenance guys came, very unprepared, and as I sat there waiting for them to unclog the bathtub one asks, “do you by chance have a wire hanger?” My response-included laughter followed by, “does it look like I have anything here?” Obviously he did not get the hint because he continued to try and sell me used furniture from previous renters.

Nights Five & Six/ Day Seven: The Internet wait here is almost a month out. Besides having and empty apartment, not having Internet has been extra boring. Luckily I called ahead of time so it is coming on Friday however, trying to take a summer school class with no Internet is next to impossible. It would also be my luck that I had a 12-page paper due last week and a final to complete so I had to find Internet somewhere. My first weekend in Minot was spent hanging out at McDonalds. Needless to say, I took a lot of heat for that one at work on Monday!

I believe that McDonalds should start its own webpage similar to Wal-Mart’s: “People of McDonalds.” Beyond learning what not to wear, I also learn tips on how not to raise my child or maybe just not to have children… It seems like McDonalds brings out ADD in every child as soon as they step foot in the door. I can’t remember ever being that excited to eat there. 

Oh, and a stranger did come talk to me… A guy wanted to know why “a beautiful girl is focusing so hard at the computer.” Again after I stopped laughing, I just said that I was writing a paper. I laughed for two reasons: One, who tries to hit on someone at McDonalds? Two: I was focusing so hard because I really needed to change my contacts and I could not see anything, but again… my contacts are with the movers!

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On the plus side, I finally received my things two weeks and three hours later. They are not kidding when they said that they unpack the boxes and put the stuff anywhere there is an open space. I know things haven’t quiet went as expected, but at least there have been some funny moments to lighten the mood a little. 

A Wish Became Reality

As many as my blog followers/readers know, I did an internship with the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) in Arlington, VA in the summers of 2009 and 2010. What many of you may not know is that going into the internship in 2009, I did not know what I wanted to do after I graduated college and that at that time I was only a broadcasting major. I had yet to decide on a minor and I had no knowledge of what a double major was.

While at my internship I was exposed to a whole side of broadcasting that I had yet to be exposed to in college. While Northwest has a very “hands on” broadcasting department, I felt like the internship exposed me to a more professional world. It also exposed to me the world of public affairs. It wasn’t until 2010 that I was able to do more in this area, but I had the opportunity to work with two Public Affairs Officers who had unbelievable stories when it came to their jobs. At that point I knew without a doubt I wanted to figure out a way that I could somehow work in the public affairs field.

When I returned back to school after the summer was over, I went to my advisor and added journalism as a second major. I had set a goal before entering college that I would graduate in 3.5 years and in order to still accomplish that goal and manage to get into public affairs, I would have to add journalism instead of switching to public relations.

In September, my Mom and I were shopping at the Independence Mall when we passed Build-A-Bear. At that time they had come out with the “Camo Bear.” I made a comment about it and of course my Mom asked if I wanted one. Even though I insisted that I didn’t, into the store we go to build the bear. You would think the most embarrassing part of building this bear would be being a 20 year old building the bear for myself, but instead it was all the silly things they make you do to the bear before you can put it together. For example: pick a heart, rub it in your hands to "warm it up and give it life", jump up and down, twirl around, make a wish…

A little over a year ago I had been graduated from college for a few months and finally landed a job with the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration. Of course when you say that to people they think it is the most awesome thing in the world. Don’t get me wrong, I was and still am very thankful to have had a fulltime job with benefits during a time when so many recent college graduates are struggling. However, I cannot say that I was overly fond of this job. From the beginning it caused me to “shut down.” As you can tell, I haven’t blogged in over a year. People seemed to invade my life a little too much for the work atmosphere. What seemed to be a job that could just be “left at work” began to follow me. I was unhappy and it reflected and was redirected on relationships outside of work. Within six months I was mentally drained of certain aspects of the position and wanted something new.

In the middle of March I was contacted by the Air Force Public Affairs Civilian Intern Program asking if I would be interested in one of the two positions that they had open. These two locations were Minot AFB in N.D. or Cannon AFB in N.M. I was overly thrilled with the opportunity being presented to me and after much research and consideration I selected to go to Minot AFB based on the overall mission and the location.

Many of you are probably wondering how the Build-A-Bear story ties into this whole post… well, the Air Force allowed me to go to North Dakota for a house-hunting trip (expenses paid). My Mom, Aunt and I planned an extended weekend to make a drive up to see if we could find something worth renting, even though it was a few months out. As I was making my bed before I left, I put all the decorative pillows on my bed (which I rarely do). As I went to place the “Camo Bear” on the bed I realized the wish that I made in 2009 on the heart that I placed inside of the bear had come true.

“I want to be accepted into the public affairs internship program.” 

 Of course at that time I was referring to the Army internship program because it was the program that my co-workers had made me familiar with and I had never found information on the Air Force program, but at that moment I realized that my wish came true and that all the silly nonsense of jumping and twirling in Build-A-Bear was worth it today.

 And on Tuesday, July 10th, I moved to Minot, N.D.

"Mr. Soldier Bear"