Spring break rant

Wow, so for the THIRD TIME this year I've had spring break plans that won't be happening. Which is ridiculous. I feel like this year has just been so full of promise but then nothing comes of it. Winter break I was supposed to go to Texas, but that ended up not happening (though I do understand the reasons why Liz didn't want to go, and I don't hold it against her. It's just unfortunate that Texas didn't happen). And now spring break. Last year was the complete opposite, which is what I don't get. The Habitat trip happened over winter break, and that sort of got me in a "travelling" sort of mindset, and then Arizona was a huge success. And over the summer Bear Island and the Smokies certainly came together after some difficulties. Those successful trips just convinced me that I could pull together anything if I really tried hard enough. But I guess this year is a learning experience, in that I get to realize that it's not always the case. Sometimes it's just not the best option for things to work out.

So in case anyone is wondering what went wrong with spring break (and because I feel like ranting about it because it's so absurdly ridiculous), I will explain pretty much in full. So last semester Meg told me about this trip to New Orleans that Green Team was pulling together, restoring degraded wetland habitat. I went for so long assuming that it would be great and psyching myself up for it. And then the person who was organizing it was a loser and it ended up not happening. And I've heard no good reason why it didn't happen, because I think it totally could have if whoever was in charge of it would have tried. Damn, next time maybe I should just be in charge of things like that. Anyways, that was failure number 1. So after that realization, I decided to go on the Outing Club trip to Florida. 4 days of backpacking in Ocala National Forest, and then 3 days of canoing in the Everglades. Sounds amazing, right? Well I'm sure it will be. I got my defensive driving certification for that trip and everything. And then less than two weeks ago, I find out that MEEC (Midwest Ecology and Evolution Conference) is the FIRST WEEKEND OF SPRING BREAK!!!!! I'm (probably, but I'll get to that later) presenting my summer/senior research there, and it's been planned since the summer, and I'd already registered and paid and everything. I knew that it was in March, I just didn't know what the exact date was. But yeah, it's tomorrow (the first Saturday of Spring Break), and the outing club left this afternoon. Obviously these two events were not compatible, and since I was already all set up for the conference and I hadn't even turned in my money for the FL trip, I decided that I wouldn't back out of the conference. Once again, I had no spring break plans. And then, just YESTERDAY (the Thursday before break) I found out that Liz didn't have to drive to the airport for her Geo trip, and so she lent me her car. FINALLY, I COULD PUT SOMETHING TOGETHER FOR MYSELF!!!!!!!!! I planned on going backpacking solo, but mom freaked out and wanted me to at least try to convince someone to go. So I asked Dawn, and she was totally for it, and I planned it out perfectly in less than a day. I spent the morning packing, and I had the food worked out and everything. And then, of all times, an actual winter storm hits CENTRAL OHIO!!!!!! How often does that happen? NOT VERY!!! I mean, Granville schools get snow days all the time, but it's usually for nothing serious (central Ohioans don't know how to deal with snow). But this time it's apparently pretty bad. I70 is closed. Who closes an interstate, there's less than 6 inches of snow!!!!!!!!!!!! Well, anyways, that would be fine and all, except that tomorrow there is supposed to be a legitimate blizzard. And it better be a damn serious blizzard, because the third spring break failure is completely due to this weather. We were supposed to drive down to the conference tonight because the weather will be worse tomorrow, but on her way home Dr. Homan saw 2 cars that had gone off the road (she lives really close to campus) and decided that we'd wait until tomorrow morning and see what happens. Well, if the meteorologists are correct (and not exaggerating things), there's going to be a BLIZZARD tomorrow, so I'm not going to be the least bit surprised if we just don't go to the conference. So I COULD HAVE GONE ON THE DAMN OUTING CLUB TRIP IF I"D KNOWN THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And the blizzard is keeping Dawn in Columbus (because 70 is closed), and I decided that I wouldn't go solo to the Smokies because gas would be too expensive if I was paying by myself, and it wouldn't be worth it for just 2 nights. So I looked at places that were closer (hell, I have winter camping exp., no big deal) but the trail I had in mind in OH is accessed through various minimally developed roads (some are forest roads), and if there IS a blizzard, then those roads sure as hell won't be maintained. I do NOT want to get stuck somewhere, and I want no harm to come to Liz's car. So that's out. And I looked at this place in West Virginia, but I would take 70 (which is CLOSED) to get there, and even that would be a lot of gas for just myself when I'm pretty financially screwed at this time.

So that was my rant. I'm probably going to stay at Denison until Sunday (after the blizzard), and then drive home. Three failed plans, what are the odds of that happening? And 4 if you count the conference that we probably won't be going to.

Ok, I'm done ranting now. I'm just sick of explaining this crazy situation so now people can read it to get the details.