I can only say with certainty that the beginning of my adventures in Vegas started off rather depressingly.
Thursday. The time is 6:30AM. I leave my house, the destination being Barstow, to make a small pit stop before I continue to Vegas.
8:00 AM: The car starts making weird noises as I exit the freeway and sharply turn to try to get to a gas station. The car stops in the middle of the road unable to start again. A random stranger helps me push it into a Starbucks parking lot.
8:30AM: I panic, asking random strangers if they know how to fix a car. They tell me to walk to a nearby gas station and ask them if they can do anything. They can’t. I ask some local cops where the closest mechanic to which they say “Main Street”, which is a couple of exits further down the freeway (in Barstow). Not knowing entirely what to do I try to start my car again. A lady tells me she overheard my conversations with the cops and gives me a business card saying she and her husband run a mechanic and can fix the car. She gives me a local tow company, which I call to tow me to her auto-shop.
9:15AM: The tow company finally comes, bringing my car to its destination at the auto-shop.
10:00AM: The lady and her husband examine the car, telling me the problem. The gasket blew out as a result of the car overheating. I panic when he tells me it would take the car a week to fix. I obviously didn’t have a week (I had to sign my lease that day and my contract for Clarke County the day after). He tells me the approximate cost is $2000, which I would argue is only slightly less than the value of my car. I freak out, not entirely sure what to do.
10:30 AM: I call some rental companies to see if I can drive them down to Vegas temporarily so I have a vehicle by which to get by for the week while my car gets fixed. I realize begrudgingly that fixing the car is virtually pointless. The rental companies either refused to let me borrow a car (because I am under 26) or they don’t have any car available for the day.
11:00AM: I was running out of options. By this point I knew I had to do something drastic. I walked to a nearby used car dealership and went ahead and purchased a car (on financing of course), a 2002 Honda Accord. It was a move that could have been thought out more clearly, but not many options were available for me at that particular point in time. The car dealer was of course really nice (as most salesman are when they’re trying to get you to buy something). He ended up assisting me and making me feel the most relieved that day – buying me lunch, filling up my gas tank, and helping me move my stuff from my car. By the time all the paperwork was done (and calling all the insurance companies and banks to set things up), it was 3:15PM and time to leave for Vegas. My brother calls a tow company to tow the old car back to Orange County.
5:30PM: I get to Vegas and sign my lease, going back to my apartment to move my stuff in. Having no Internet for that night I ended up calling people and watching television to finish out my night. I realized I was missing crucial things such as: Shower curtains, a floor mat, and a trashcan.
Friday went much more smoothly (in that nothing bad happened). I went to Cram Middle School, met all the administrative staff, and was handed the keys to my beautiful classroom. I rearranged the desks, not exactly sure if I should keep them in that position though.
I also got a nice little welcome bag with a bunch of school supplies inside (and shirt/hat).
I had to run around all over the place buying supplies for my classroom (using the school’s Credit Card of course). I didn’t have time to put much up though because I had to run to the Clarke County School District to sign my contract as well as do all my hiring paperwork and fingerprints. Afterwards I went with school staff to a bar nearby where we all consumed free appetizers and socialized for a bit. I went back to the classroom to get my stuff and went home for the night, so tired I knocked out early.
Finally, it’s Saturday. Dying for some social interaction I did some community service this morning for Opportunity Village. It was nice decorating bushes with Christmas lights and taking some old ones down for a future fundraiser in December. Though the people there were much older than me, I had a blast talking to them. They could see I was in extreme pain in the sun even though they were clearly well adjusted to the heat.
I went ahead and went back to the Middle School afterwards attempting to continue decorating the room. Though I didn’t finish, here’s what I did for one bulletin board. BLAH.
And before school starts on Monday, I must lesson plan for a bit, using the book they gave me (and hopefully some Internet acquired from Starbucks or tethering).
Who knows what the next days and weeks in Vegas will bring? I hope to make new friends, build new experiences, and finalize my classroom preparations for the year. T-minus 1.5 days.
