Book sales, earthquakes, Comcast, oh my!!

First off, I want to thank everyone who was concerned about my safety right after the earthquake today. How crazy, right?! I was in a workshop at a day long conference at JMU when it happened. As the projector started to swing and the walls began to shake everyone from California jumped up and ran out of the door. They didn't even say anything to anyone! The noises got worse and the shaking became more violent. It was like a stampede was running across the floor above us and it felt like the roof would cave in at any moment. Someone then shouted "It's just the construction on campus!" I knew one thing was for sure - that eerie feeling, deep foundational sound, and time-is-standing-still sensation was definitely not construction! Almost right after that alarms went off and we evacuated the building. Since then we have learned the epicenter was near Mineral, VA which is only about 70 miles away from Harrisonburg (Thanks Google Maps!) and the strength of the quake was rated around a 5.8 on the Richter scale. I was texting my friend who lives in Washington, DC and she got off work the rest of the day! My apartment complex asked everyone to check their apartments for smells of gas. It is very exciting to talk about now but it was very scary when it happened!! My dad just told me that he felt it in Cincinnati too! (Awww, the fault lines are connecting us :) Luckily, so far it has seemed to cause no serious damage or harm at any location. Let's pray the settling aftershock doesn't either!

As for the rest of this post, let me get started with the negative comments I have about Comcast and then end on much more positive things.

Comcast Timeline: Supporting evidence as to why they suck
- August 9th: a wireless internet router was ordered for me. The cost of my package would be $70 a month.
- August 13th: my internet and cable were installed. The service man had no package installation that matched what I had ordered. I just took what he could do.
- August 14th-18th: Still no wireless router. Therefore, I do all my online work by sitting on one tiny corner of my couch.
- August 19th: I called customer service to get an update on the router. Apparently, the order for my installation overrode the order for my router in the system so it never got processed. Great. We re-order a router and I find out the actual cost of my package is now $40. I don't get it but great! What a discount!
- August 23rd: Still no router. I once again call customer service. They have no record of a router being ordered - EVER! Not the first or the second time soooo third time is a charm right?! This time I have a confirmation number but the router is not expected until 5 days from now. Let's see if that really happens. Idiots. I don't even know who to complain to or request that the router be free or something because I am dealing with customer service!

See, I alluded to the annoyingness last post... Anyway, to counter that one negative experience I have three positive ones!!

1) On Sunday evening, with a sweet girl from my program and her boyfriend, I ventured to the Green Valley Book Fair which has 500,000 bargain books at 60-90% off retail value!! It was like a huge warehouse Barnes and Noble set up but the books are cheap!! I bought 1 children's sticker book (for Claire and Sarah), 2 cook books, 5 fiction books, 2 books for David, and 1 spiritual meditation book (that equals 11 books if you weren't counting) for less that $40!!! It was amazing!! We went there around 4:30 and didn't leave until 7:00 when they closed. The fair opens 6 times througout the year for two weeks at a time constantly adding and changing the book selection. They even have books on tape, calendars, and clearance sections! It was very very cool!

2) Yesterday, Monday, I was able to meet with the supervisor of my assistantship for the first time. She was so nice and organized and sweet and relaxed! I really liked talking with her and can't wait to dive into some work! She explained some of what I would be doing such as: co-teaching a psychology course, facilitating and leading programs, supervising peer mentors, and other things around the office! Today I had to attend a workshop, like I mentioned earlier, but tomorrow at 9:00 AM I go back to work! Yay!!! My schedule will also be very flexible since I will be working with students in the evenings during the week. This means I will probably be able to take some Friday's off to help with the drive on my weekends home!!

3) Speaking of weekends... I have this Friday off and nothing planned for Saturday so I talked to Emily (a sorority sister who moved to Washington, DC after graduation). I am going to visit her in DC for the weekend!!! I am so excited!!! She texted me today asking all kinds of questions about what I wanted to do and what I like to eat! It will just be nice being able to be with someone from home and see another part of the country by taking advantage of where I am geographically. If I was in Florence it would take about 10 hours to drive there. From Harrisonburg it is only going to take me about 2 hours! Piece of cake! I know she will be a wonderful hostess but I am just looking forward to catching up and spending some time with her :)

I'm going to have to start putting together a list of things to do when people come and visit me - and I hope you all know you are more than welcome to!!! So far I know I have a great farmer's market, book fair, and hiking near by. Of course we could arrange tickets to a JMU Duke's football game and visit all kinds of cool shops and bars in historic downtown.... haha or there is always the quilt museum!!

Thanks for reading this and keeping up with my life. Words can't describe how much I miss everyone at home. I have been thinking about my sisters and friends at NKU too. Make it a wonderful semester! And just like I said on facebook the other day - There really is something special about being united at a university for the same purpose at the same time with all kinds of different people. The college community is one with many opportunities for growth and excitement. I hope you all take advantage!! I'm feeling pretty lucky that if things go as planned I'll get to experience that specialness for a very long time :)