So today I thought I would update since I don't have much time before I need to get to sleep in order to be awake for work tomorrow.
In the last 3 weeks I've collectively traveled over 3200 miles in 4 different vehicles (Toyota Sienna, Honda Civic, Honda Accord, and 10' U-Haul Truck) and through 7 different states (VT, NY, PA, OH, IN, IL, and WI). The last week alone I was in Buffalo, NYC, and VT and probably got like 20 hours of sleep overall that week.
I mentioned in my last post about going to WI for a baptism for my brand new goddaughter Tessa. Almost a 2000 mi round trip exactly. It was very long drive for what feels like such a short road trip but experiences were had and memories were made. I got to see my cousins, who grew up in FL, for the first time in 7 years. A lot has changed since that wedding in Boston the week before my freshman year, and half the time it felt like we were strangers to one another trying to catch up on 7 years of news but by the end of our visit a new bond had been created and my extended family just got a little bit closer. Also while out there we had an extra day which we spent going to a casino where I ended up winning $150 playing blackjack.
Last week was full of preparation, packing, travelling, as well as some sudden and upsetting news. On Wednesday the 21st my family and I traveled to Buffalo to drop off my sister at UB for the start of her pharmacy degree. The beginning of the week leading up to that was packing and preparing for both her and my brother (who had also decided to go the pharmacy route but in VT, more on that later). That day was a 600 mi. round trip drive and we made the trip out with 2 cars, my trusty Honda Civic (Michelle) and my brothers' Honda Accord. Sadly once we got there Michelle and I had to part ways so that my sis had reliable transportation to her classes and clinical rotations. So we said our good byes and then headed back home again stopping off at another casino on the way where I fared even better and won another $300 at blackjack. We ended up getting home early Thursday morning.
Not much happened on Thursday, I caught up on some sleep, went to Best Buy and got a new laptop using the money I won at the casinos to pay for half, and helped my brother get his furniture together to take to VT so he could start his pharmacy degree there. That night however my family received some disturbing news that my Ammachi's (Grandma's) health was failing and that she didn't have much time left. I didn't get much sleep that night and then still had to go into work that morning. I learned later that day (by text) that she had passed away around the time I had started work (2am EST, 12:30p IST). When I got home after work my dad had already booked the plane ticket, so I caught up on some sleep while Dad finished packing and around 3pm we all got into the Accord and drove down to JFK Airport to see him and my aunts off on the plane to India (with a connecting flight in Abu Dhabi). That ended up being a 300mi round trip drive. On the way back my mom, brother, and I were trying to figure out how to get all his furniture to VT since we were planning on taking a U-Haul up the next day but Dad was initially supposed to drive. I ended up agreeing to drive the truck out and hoped I wouldn't be too tired. After we got home I went to bed for a few hours and then left for work while they sorted out the details with the truck.
Work wasn't too bad and I got home at 7am showered and passed out by 8am for a few hours before being woken by my brother saying we had to drive 40ish miles to pick up the truck we were using. Apparently there were no 10' trucks in Albany available for the amount of time we needed. So we drove out and on the way I looked up everything I could about driving a 10' U-Haul and basically gave myself a crash course in truck driving. We got to the rental place on time and did all the paperwork (which felt a lot like selling my soul to be honest) and then I got into the cab of the truck... with my mom. She is a brave woman for getting in the truck with me knowing it was my first time driving something so big. But the drive back to Albany gave me a chance to get used to the U-Haul and I found that it didn't feel much different from driving the minivan aside from the longer back end, the lack of a rear view mirror, and the extra weight which meant driving slower and breaking much earlier. I was pretty cautious but by the time we got back to the house I was feeling more confident about driving to VT.
So we loaded up the truck and tied everything down, had some lunch, then my bro took off right away in the Accord so he could get to the campus and get the key before the office closed for the day. Mom and I left about 30 minutes later. The drive there was pretty uneventful for the most part, just small talk with Mom, getting more confident with every mile, and following the GPS. Leave it to apple maps to screw up the trip. When we got close to Lake Champlain the GPS route had us stay in NY and follow along the coast up to a ferry. My brother ended up taking the ferry across to VT but since we had the U-Haul and didn't want to risk losing it at the bottom of the lake, Mom and I drove back down and around to a bridge we could use to cross into VT. That detour ended up taking us 60 miles out of hour way and with only 260ish miles total given, we were worried that we might go over. Luckily I was able to find a fast route down and around to the bridge rather than rely on apple maps to guide us.
Once we got into VT the scenery was gorgeous: forests, hills, and open spaces as well full of beautiful foliage and all right around sunset. I was sad that I couldn't take any pictures while I was driving. Anyway we got to the campus without any more hiccups and unloaded the furniture into the apartment. We then went to find the drop off point for the U-Haul stopping to fill up the tank back to the level we started with. Once we got there we had only 7 miles left on the truck before we went over. The trip itself is only supposed to be 150 miles, that means 260 - 40 (rental place back to Albany) - 150 (trip distance) - 7 (extra) = 63 extra miles because of the GPS being stupid. Thanks Apple -_- . We then all made our way home with the trip ending up being about 360 miles total.
Went to church on Sunday and prayed for Ammachi's soul and then went to work that night/morning and started my classes on Monday. I only have to go in for one class on Mon, Tue, and Wed as my other 3 classes are all online. My family also attended Ammachi's wake via Skype so I saw her for the last time between 8/26 and 8/27. She was buried at 2pm IST on 8/28/13 which would have been 8/28/13 at 3:30am EST for me.
So that is how I spent the last month of my summer aside from working and sleeping a lot. Today my brother left for VT for orientation. The rest of my week has been spent in classes reviewing past material, going to work, and getting textbooks and programs together that I need for my classes. I was proud of myself today for getting all of my textbooks for free online in PDF form. It's amazing what you can find on Google nowadays.
I don't really know how to feel about Ammachi's passing. I am sad that she's gone, although there was always a language barrier between us I could tell she still cared about what happened to me. She was also a big part of what kept my family together especially when Chachen (Grandpa) died almost 10 years ago. I just hope my family doesn't decide to spontaneously fall apart after this.
Now I have to buckle down and get these classes done, study for, register for, and take the GRE. Get my recommendations together, send in my transcripts, and apply for the Comp Sci MS program at UAlbany... hopefully with a little luck I'll get in this spring. Even better, that I find a stable enough job where I don't have to go back and get a Masters Degree.
Until next time...
In the last 3 weeks I've collectively traveled over 3200 miles in 4 different vehicles (Toyota Sienna, Honda Civic, Honda Accord, and 10' U-Haul Truck) and through 7 different states (VT, NY, PA, OH, IN, IL, and WI). The last week alone I was in Buffalo, NYC, and VT and probably got like 20 hours of sleep overall that week.
I mentioned in my last post about going to WI for a baptism for my brand new goddaughter Tessa. Almost a 2000 mi round trip exactly. It was very long drive for what feels like such a short road trip but experiences were had and memories were made. I got to see my cousins, who grew up in FL, for the first time in 7 years. A lot has changed since that wedding in Boston the week before my freshman year, and half the time it felt like we were strangers to one another trying to catch up on 7 years of news but by the end of our visit a new bond had been created and my extended family just got a little bit closer. Also while out there we had an extra day which we spent going to a casino where I ended up winning $150 playing blackjack.
Last week was full of preparation, packing, travelling, as well as some sudden and upsetting news. On Wednesday the 21st my family and I traveled to Buffalo to drop off my sister at UB for the start of her pharmacy degree. The beginning of the week leading up to that was packing and preparing for both her and my brother (who had also decided to go the pharmacy route but in VT, more on that later). That day was a 600 mi. round trip drive and we made the trip out with 2 cars, my trusty Honda Civic (Michelle) and my brothers' Honda Accord. Sadly once we got there Michelle and I had to part ways so that my sis had reliable transportation to her classes and clinical rotations. So we said our good byes and then headed back home again stopping off at another casino on the way where I fared even better and won another $300 at blackjack. We ended up getting home early Thursday morning.
Not much happened on Thursday, I caught up on some sleep, went to Best Buy and got a new laptop using the money I won at the casinos to pay for half, and helped my brother get his furniture together to take to VT so he could start his pharmacy degree there. That night however my family received some disturbing news that my Ammachi's (Grandma's) health was failing and that she didn't have much time left. I didn't get much sleep that night and then still had to go into work that morning. I learned later that day (by text) that she had passed away around the time I had started work (2am EST, 12:30p IST). When I got home after work my dad had already booked the plane ticket, so I caught up on some sleep while Dad finished packing and around 3pm we all got into the Accord and drove down to JFK Airport to see him and my aunts off on the plane to India (with a connecting flight in Abu Dhabi). That ended up being a 300mi round trip drive. On the way back my mom, brother, and I were trying to figure out how to get all his furniture to VT since we were planning on taking a U-Haul up the next day but Dad was initially supposed to drive. I ended up agreeing to drive the truck out and hoped I wouldn't be too tired. After we got home I went to bed for a few hours and then left for work while they sorted out the details with the truck.
Work wasn't too bad and I got home at 7am showered and passed out by 8am for a few hours before being woken by my brother saying we had to drive 40ish miles to pick up the truck we were using. Apparently there were no 10' trucks in Albany available for the amount of time we needed. So we drove out and on the way I looked up everything I could about driving a 10' U-Haul and basically gave myself a crash course in truck driving. We got to the rental place on time and did all the paperwork (which felt a lot like selling my soul to be honest) and then I got into the cab of the truck... with my mom. She is a brave woman for getting in the truck with me knowing it was my first time driving something so big. But the drive back to Albany gave me a chance to get used to the U-Haul and I found that it didn't feel much different from driving the minivan aside from the longer back end, the lack of a rear view mirror, and the extra weight which meant driving slower and breaking much earlier. I was pretty cautious but by the time we got back to the house I was feeling more confident about driving to VT.
So we loaded up the truck and tied everything down, had some lunch, then my bro took off right away in the Accord so he could get to the campus and get the key before the office closed for the day. Mom and I left about 30 minutes later. The drive there was pretty uneventful for the most part, just small talk with Mom, getting more confident with every mile, and following the GPS. Leave it to apple maps to screw up the trip. When we got close to Lake Champlain the GPS route had us stay in NY and follow along the coast up to a ferry. My brother ended up taking the ferry across to VT but since we had the U-Haul and didn't want to risk losing it at the bottom of the lake, Mom and I drove back down and around to a bridge we could use to cross into VT. That detour ended up taking us 60 miles out of hour way and with only 260ish miles total given, we were worried that we might go over. Luckily I was able to find a fast route down and around to the bridge rather than rely on apple maps to guide us.
Once we got into VT the scenery was gorgeous: forests, hills, and open spaces as well full of beautiful foliage and all right around sunset. I was sad that I couldn't take any pictures while I was driving. Anyway we got to the campus without any more hiccups and unloaded the furniture into the apartment. We then went to find the drop off point for the U-Haul stopping to fill up the tank back to the level we started with. Once we got there we had only 7 miles left on the truck before we went over. The trip itself is only supposed to be 150 miles, that means 260 - 40 (rental place back to Albany) - 150 (trip distance) - 7 (extra) = 63 extra miles because of the GPS being stupid. Thanks Apple -_- . We then all made our way home with the trip ending up being about 360 miles total.
Went to church on Sunday and prayed for Ammachi's soul and then went to work that night/morning and started my classes on Monday. I only have to go in for one class on Mon, Tue, and Wed as my other 3 classes are all online. My family also attended Ammachi's wake via Skype so I saw her for the last time between 8/26 and 8/27. She was buried at 2pm IST on 8/28/13 which would have been 8/28/13 at 3:30am EST for me.
So that is how I spent the last month of my summer aside from working and sleeping a lot. Today my brother left for VT for orientation. The rest of my week has been spent in classes reviewing past material, going to work, and getting textbooks and programs together that I need for my classes. I was proud of myself today for getting all of my textbooks for free online in PDF form. It's amazing what you can find on Google nowadays.
I don't really know how to feel about Ammachi's passing. I am sad that she's gone, although there was always a language barrier between us I could tell she still cared about what happened to me. She was also a big part of what kept my family together especially when Chachen (Grandpa) died almost 10 years ago. I just hope my family doesn't decide to spontaneously fall apart after this.
Now I have to buckle down and get these classes done, study for, register for, and take the GRE. Get my recommendations together, send in my transcripts, and apply for the Comp Sci MS program at UAlbany... hopefully with a little luck I'll get in this spring. Even better, that I find a stable enough job where I don't have to go back and get a Masters Degree.
Until next time...
