much-needed update
well, i haven't written anything in the last couple of weeks, but it's because they've been extremely stressful. in fact, i think i would classify last week as one of the worst in my life, though it did have one or two good things.
let's start with the one big good thing. last wednesday, i was called down to the office and then told to go to the counseling center. when i got there, there were about 20 other students, all of the counselors, and the superintendent. they gave us donuts and told us that we (now about 35 of us) were all national merit semifinalists! i was given a lot of paperwork and told how to apply to be a finalist. if i actually get one of the scholarships, not only will i get money from the nmsc, but it looks really good to colleges, who will then also want to give me money.
now for the bad. that day after band practice, i was backing out of my parking spot, looking behind me, and i saw this girl (who's also in band) pass behind me in her car, but i was also right next to a fence and had to make sure that i wasn't going to hit the fence by turning out of the spot. so right when i turn around to check my front by the fence, the girl stops right behind me and i hit her car. basically my back bumper hit the side of her back bumper, right behind her back tire. i got out and apologized immediately, but she seemed pretty angry with me anyway. i looked at her car and there was basically no serious damage. the point where my car had actually hit hers wasn't dented or even scratched, since it was those new molded plastic body panels and not metal. but the pressure on the panel had caused the bumper to pop out of place on the end right by the tire. my first thought is that it can just be popped back into place, no harm, no foul. but she and her annoying boyfriend (who was conveniently in the car behind hers) swore up and down that to fix it would mean replacing the entire bumper. well, i'm willing to accept the fact that it may be impossible to just pop it back into place (though it was my impression that body shops are able to re-form things pretty easily without just completely replacing them), but the damage was very minimal. it's visible, yes. there's about a half inch gap between the side panel and the bumper panel, but it really doesn't in any way affect the performance or overall look of the car. so i was slightly annoyed that she would take advantage of the situation to make me pay for a whole new bumper for her. but then, she lets it slip that only the day before, she had been responsible for an accident that had affected the exact same area, and that the bumper panel was already partially popped out to begin with. then she points to some scratches on the back door of the car (which i couldn't possibly have made, because my car didn't hit there, not to mention that the placement of the fence i was trying to get around would have made me hitting that part of her car impossible) and tells me that she's going to get an estimate for the scratches fixed and the bumper replaced and get back to me tomorrow. well, i was extremely overheated and dehydrated from practice, and just wanted to go home, so i didn't fight her and told her that i would talk to her tomorrow. so i get home and there's a message on my computer.
her: andyyyyyyy
*** auto-response sent to her: ugh. depressed to begin with and then hit someone's car and forgot my national merit application at school. i'll be sitting in front of the tv trying not to think.
her: this is [name]
her: andyyyyyy
her: well whenever you get this, i've tried to call you but i guess you're not answering your phone...but my phone number is [#] and my cell [#]...my dad wants to talk about the insurance stuff or whatever, so please give me a call asap thanks!
first of all, i like how she skipped right past my away message about feeling like crap because she is apparently the most insensitive person ever. so i was feeling really stressed out with her. then later, she signs back on and starts demanding that her father be allowed to call and talk to me.
her: so could you call now?
her: you should probably just call and talk to my dad
me: did you talk to your parents about how it could be fixed?
her: yeah, but they'd rather talk to you about it i think
her: so if i called your house would you answer the phone
her: or will you call me
her: please
me: what do they want to talk to me about? i think you'll understand if i'm intimidated about talking to your parents.
her: oh yes i understand i would be too
her: just to see how the best way to fix it is
her: i mean they're going to get involved eventually
her: since it is their car
me: right, well, have they talked to any body shop or anything about an estimate on fixing it?
her: we were going to go tomorrow
her: anyways
her: i'm gonna have my dad call
her: so if you could answer the phone
her: that'd be dandy
me: so if you're going to get the estimate tomorrow, then i can probably be ready to talk to him after that.
her: okay
her: i'll tell him
me: thank you.
her: but if the phone rings, it'll be me just cause my dad wanted me to call anyways
her dad did end up calling, but of course i didn't answer it, since it was totally unfair for them to try to railroad me before i'd even gotten to talk to my parents. later that night, when my mom was home, i told her and she was very understanding. she said it would all work out and not to stress about it.
the next day, thursday, the new gpas and class ranks came out from the registrar at school. well, my gpa has been going up steadily, my class position has been exactly the same, and my class percentage has been steadily dropping due to all of the kids dropping out or withdrawing. but it turns out the registrar has been neglecting her job and therefore inadvertantly lying to us for the last two years. every gpa report has been putting the size of our class at around 800-820, which makes my rank of 76 well within the top 10% of the class (which, for those of you don't know, means that state universities are required to accept you - it's a texas thing). well thursday, the reports come out and we have 750 students. that's right. i'm one person away from top 10%, not because my gpa has been dropping, but because people below me have been dropping out. had the registrar bothered to do her job and actually take all of the kids off the list who have withdrawn or dropped out, maybe i would be prepared now for having to apply to college. but suddenly i'm scrambling to get through applications because my being accepted at ut isn't automatic anymore. and the thing that makes me the most angry about all of this is that i have 3.9 gpa (or 4.42 out of 4.5, which is the scale our school does it on). our school is so damn competitive that 35 people have 4.0s (which is exactly the top 5% of the class). that means that our school has to pick from 35 people who will be our valedictorian. what is wrong with this picture?
that night was our annual italian dinner fundraiser for band. the food was good, as always. the girl whose car i hit was there, and mom talked to her parents for a while. basically they had gotten separate estimates for the stuff the girl had done and the stuff i had done, but had still separated it out unfairly. they exchanged contact information. on friday morning, dad ended up calling to talk to her parents and got them to bring down the original estimate to something we thought was fair, and then paid it out of pocket. my insurance would have skyrocketed had we reported it. meh.
anyway, this entry is already massive. i'll write more later.
saturday, september 25th, 2004 at 11:15 am • permalink • comment
© 2001-2008 Andrew C. Ewert.
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this part-blog, part-phlog is an unreliably updated account of my adventures and misadventures. it has no real cohesive theme, but i'm apt at any moment to digress into rants on language, politics, film, and technology, or anything else that interests me at the time. for more about me and this blog, click here.
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