Small, What?

I was going to say it's a small city, but well, read on.

So you all know by know that I'm in this Computer Programming course. I'm finding it difficult and not very rewarding. I really enjoy databases, but programming? Not so much. Maybe it's the teacher. I dunno.

The time of the course is also a pain in the tuchis. 6 pm doesn't really work so well for me, or more specifically, for Freya. She needs to be fed twice a day, about 12 hours apart. If I'm going to make it to Nepean on time, I need to feed her at 5. Which means that the next morning I either get up before dawn cracks, or wake up at 6:30 to an overweight cat pacing across the pillows above my head . The later I can push the evening feed, the better.

This problem is compounded by the fact that right now, Freya and I are having a power struggle over her eating habits. She has always been a grazer. A few mouthfuls of kibble to start, and then the occasional snack throughout the day. But now, I can't shoot her up unless she's eaten at least a third of her food, and I'm not going to leave wet food down all day and come home to an apartment reeking of processed meat. Not to mention that after its been out a few hours, she very sensibly won't touch it anyway.

The new feeding regime started out with me chasing her around the apartment, food dish in hand, from room to room, putting it under her nose wherever she was lounging. She'd look at me quizzically, lap a few times, and then go back to lying down. It could take me an off-and-on hour of chasing her around to get her fed. A few days ago I got frustrated and petty and said to her "Well, Freya, this is it. You'll just have to learn that if you don't eat, you'll go hungry." And I'm going to lock you in a closet, you bad girl. Yeesh. I don't think I should ever have children.

Last night I relented, and spent some time following her around. Which meant I left late for class. Late, even, for 6:30. Turns out 6 pm isn't so great for the teacher, either, thank god.

Coming down the Empress Stairs, I see the 95 pull away from my stop. I wait. And wait. And get a fucking packed next 95. There's a guy wearing a backpack twice as deep as him. Both he and I seem to grasp that he needs extra room for his growth, but neither he nor I can seem to get a grasp on how *much* extra space he needs, and so the damn thing keeps not even jabbing me, but brushing against me in a too familiar way. As the stops go by, I scuttle further and further back, until eventually I end up in front of Jessica. Five weeks ago I'd run into her on her way home, and we'd been quite surprised to see each other, but this time, while it was nice to chat, it wasn't a surprise.

Eventually, Jessica and I parted ways, I dropped a little something off in my paramour's locker, and headed on, at high speed, slightly late for my late class. I rounded the corner to head on over into J building and there was my upstairs neighbour. Now, this also wasn't entirely surprising, since I had seen him on campus several times last spring, and had even said hi to him a few times. To which he never responded. I was a bit miffed at first, but also thought it was kind of funny. It took him a year to recognize me outside of our front hall, and even then, he only noticed me in the first place because I was wearing a short skirt and carrying a 12 of beer. Generally, I am categorically Not His Kind of Girl. I am a-okay with this.

On the way to J building, we shared an awkward hello, neatly avoided smacking into each other, and I was finally down the hall, that much closer to J building.

But only 30 feet closer when walking towards me was one of my co-workers. And again, not entirely surprising, since I knew she took courses at the Gonk. But we've both been taking courses there for over a year now, and I've never seen her once on campus before. A friendly and polite hello, from opposite sides of the corridor, going in opposite directions.

Finally, to class. This is my third computer course at the Gonk, and this is the first time I've made a friend in class. Last class I was so super frustrated that I actually asked someone for help. That someone ended up being Sean, who is very nice and helped me with my code. This time after class we got chatting about our jobs, etc. etc. He mentioned that his dad worked in the same field I do. My spidey senses tingled. It's a small field. "Really? What's his name?"

He eyed me skeptically, knowing what I was thinking. "Dale [LastName]. But out in BC."

"Huh. I'm pretty sure he was at our conference. I think I gave him his name tag. Has he mentioned being in Edmonton recently?"

And yeah, his dad had mentioned.

Small country.