I�m not even going to try to get into the specifics, reactions, and counter-reactions of the reason for the last few days of Detroit being incredibly stressful and shitty. I will summarize:

Shit happened between two people Nicholas knows. Nicholas got caught in the middle. Major fucking confusing conflict ensued. I tried to make sense of it all from person to person. It�s too personal to include any more details than that. Suffice it to say, it was not at all fun.

On that same count, I had to ride all of my profs. who were offering letters of reference for the NSF thingy. None had been sent in on the 31st (when it was originally due), and I was afraid that the new deadline (the 3rd) would show the same thing. I�d emailed all of the profs. a few times, even called them on the 31st to tell them about the new deadline (but really to remind them to get the reference letter in). Nicholas was dead to the world in trying to deal with the ludicrous bullshit mentioned above, taking a well-deserved sleep while I walked over to Wang State U�s welcome center. They had some computer kiosks with net access available, and I quickly put most everything in order (and learned the new deadline is the 7th, which is good since Dr. Zivago�s letter didn�t upload right to the system�a fact I mentioned on pins and needles via email today).

The continuing drama unfolded. During one section of it, when I couldn�t get Nicholas up by buzzing his apartment (since I was without his keys), P and I decided to have a drink at a local watering hole. We�d gone here a night or two ago with Nicholas and an old friend of Nick�s. The pizza was damned cheap, damned good, and the liquor was adequate. P organized his course packet materials for his classes while I phoned Sylph and let her in on the details. I�d gotten clearance, don�t get nervous. She helped make things nicer, a trait I�d come to really enjoy the last few days.

P and I talked about philosophy mostly, since that�s what he teaches. This was the first and only time he and I got a chance to speak. It was cool chatting it up with an older academic. We both obviously had a love for learning and I was genuinely interested in this or that aspect of his courses. He passed me several worksheets he usually uses, and they were interesting/fun to work through. Eventually we got back to Nicholas� place and he was awake, where we�d planned on watching a film about gay persecution in Nazi Germany.

All of that was interrupted by the final crescendo of the bullshit conflict thing I mentioned above. People hid, voices were raised, weird fucking emotions were had by all. I�ll say no more, except that part of the situation got better and part of it got worse.

Nicholas and I needed to hoof it to his mom�s place to finalize my explanation for the speeding ticket, print that out, and also print the photographs I�d taken. This took a hell of a lot longer than I thought�but it got done.

Of course it was the little things that made the day a stressful ball of ass:

*I needed to make photocopies of weather reports to prove it�d been foggy as all hell that night for my defense. I went to a UPS store, made copies, and paid for them.

*Trouble was, I wanted to make a copy of my speeding ticket. Y�know, in case the envelope I sent to the court suddenly burst into flame and I needed to send in a copy.

*I forgot to make a copy of the ticket at the UPS store�and by the time I drove there again, they were closed. The local Kroaker supermarket had fax, but no copy machine. Thankfully, a lovely and I must say extremely pleasant library right behind it did have a copier.

*While finalizing my draft and printing photographs, I learned that a HUGE winter storm was coming into Chicago the next morning�and it�d hit Detroit with 5-7 inches of snow the next day. The day after that was going to be worse. In short order, then, I suddenly needed to drive out of town that day. I wasn�t prepared to do this and it jacked up my mood from slightly stressed to majorly stressed.

Still, at around 8pm, I had all of that shit done and was ready to leave. Nicholas apologized�as he�d done a few times before�about the bullshit conflict situation and other things that�d happened on my vacation. All in all, I got some good stuff from the trip, met a lot of interesting people, and got to see one of my dearest friends. I won�t lie, the last 3-4 days were fucking awful for the most part, but strange shit happens and you deal�even on vacation.

So, with a full tank of gas, two 16 oz. cans of energy drink, some water, and all of my stuff packed, I hugged Nicholas goodbye and buggered out of Detroit to avoid the winter storm.

Amusing highlights from my 6 hour trip:

*I got lost around the I-294/I-90 interchange. Yahoo maps had given me a very ambiguous thing to follow, and I couldn�t find a �Chicago/Rockford exit� anywhere�anywhere that made sense, since there was nothing said about going west or east. Instead, I pulled into the O�Haire Oasis and refueled both myself and my car. I hadn�t gotten out of the thing for 4 hours, so I was a little slap happy. I left the pump pumping gas in the light drizzling snow. I sought toll change inside, since Illinois is a fucktard of a state that expects 80 CENTS per toll. The guy behind the counter was a gamer. The shirt with Mario Bros. mushrooms gave that away. In back was �geek dressed as bad ass dude but coming off as nice guy� man and the black manager. I retrieved a sickly looking hot dog, put it into a NASA wrapped bun, and then madly fished for my credit card.

Luckily, the hot dogs were not only overcooked, but recently expired, so the manager let me have it for free. I also got 4 bucks worth of change. As I went to gladly relieve myself in the restroom, though, the hot dog package slipped outta my trenchcoat and into a warm bowl full of piss. It was a sitcom moment. I couldn�t leave something like that on my conscience, so I picked it up with some TP and shook it. The hot dog fell out. I flushed, it left the building. Threw away the packaging in the trash. Problem solved. I smirked and thought 'easy come, easy go'.

*While at the oasis still, I decided I needed food. It was one of those "I don't feel hungry, but I'm probably starving or something" moments. The only place open: Mc D�s. Now, I�d made a pact with myself years ago that I would NEVER patronize that corporation because of the nasty shit it does to animals, the planet, and its employees�that is, unless I had absolutely no other choice. I wasn�t about to drive a few more hours on Krispy Kreme donuts, so a 10 piece McChicken Limps it was. I got a childhood zesty feeling when I opened the carton. The chicken sucked, and the fries had just gone downhill since a decade ago. I wanted to ask for directions, but I was quite literally one of two white people there. What were so many Mexicans doing in Illinois? Not to sound racist, but just out of awe-struck curiousity.

I got onto a different route toward Madison and, slogging through sleet, snow, and badly paved roads, I made my way home�

And next up, finally, my near-death experience!�and home!

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