<p>As some of you might remember, when WashDadJr left school to come home for the summer, he simply forgot that his bike was chained to the rack in front of the student union building. When I asked him about it, he shrugged and said, “It’s only a $90 bike, either it will be there or it won’t. If it isn’t, I’ll just buy another cheap bike.” Working all summer has made him feel rich, I guess.</p>
<p>I found out tonight that the bike was still where he left it, and except for a flat front tire it was ready to ride. I wish I was so calm about things.</p>
<p>Tomorrow he’s golfing ($4 a round at the school’s golf course) and doing Physics homework, before spending the night playing board games with friends. Sometimes I wish I was an undergraduate again… I’d even settle for being 19, if I could know what I know now.</p>
<p>Aww, kids. I thought your son’s bike would be reduced to its frame chained to that bike rack when I read your post on the bike thread. Well, your son is now $90 richer, I guess.</p>
<p>Mine (a freshman) just called that she signed up for two most difficult languages in the world. And nevermind the fact that the classes meet at the same time on one day of the week - yikes! I wanted to lecture her, but backed off. She has a few weeks to drop a class. I just wonder which one…</p>
<p>Son has reported that the senior-most prof in one of his upper division geology classes[ taught by 4 teachers in rotation] has declared that since HE walked through the snow in Mass to school when he was young, yada yada, the [adult] students in his class have no right to grouse that the weekly lab for the class will be held at 7:00 AM !! Now, all of the students have very full schedules packed with science classes and labs-9:00 classes each day , 30+ hours on campus each week, and all would prefer an evening lab once a week, but nooooooooo. He’ll see how long that lasts. Seems like sleep deprivation will be the norm this semester!</p>
<p>Ah, the first requests I received were fairly simple - from S by text message (after not communicating for a few days) - “I increased my meal plan, I need more shirts, and the bath mat is soaked, how do we dry it?” LOL, life should be so simple again! At least a much, much better start to the year than last year!</p>
<p>Folding doors on last year’s closets have been replaced by “real” doors that need to swing outward. Loss of wall space has caused a room layout crisis. “We are NOT bunking!”</p>
<p>Washdad’s story reminded me S1’s first trip home at the holidays. He had walked to the subway stop and realized he still had his small pocketknife with him. He took it off his keychain and threw it in the snow under a bench near the subway. Two weeks later he’s walking back to his dorm and thinks about the knife. The snow had melted and it was still there and fully functional.</p>
<p>Talked to my S yesterday and he informed me that he went to Target to get some things we forgot to get before he left. When I asked what they were he told me a cork screw and a clothes hamper. I did not ask further questions.</p>
<p>His Majesty My Son moves into the new “luxury” apartments tomorrow (with our help). I’m dreading a day of EVERY single resident of a 14 story student apartment building moving in on one day with almost NO parking (downtown streets). At least it is new, safe, clean housing- washer/dryer in every unit. He has to figure out how to sneak his cat in.</p>
<p>We helped S2 move in. While he was getting his ID, etc. I put his clothes in the wardrobe and stowed things as he directed in drawers. We left after lunch to begin the long drive home. 3-4 hours later, my cell phone rings. It is S who says “Did we pack shoes?” I responded, “Yes, they’re on the floor of the wardrobe where your clothes are hanging.” I’m sure I’ll get a call as soon as the clean underwear runs out and he has to do laundry. </p>
<p>I told himi I planned to type out laundry instructions and tape them to the jug of detergent, so they would be handy when he needed them. He told me in no uncertain terms that was not acceptable and to just send him an e-mail. However, I fear that the computer will not be near at hand when he gets to the washing machine and has to figure out what to do.</p>
<p>"His Majesty My Son "… ha ha, love it MOWC!</p>
<p>Last fall we flew my son home for fall break, but his return flight to the small regional airport closest to campus was cancelled due to thunderstorms. The airline re-booked him for the next morning. It was too late at night to reach anyone at the college to re-schedule the college van to pick him up, and he had his hardest class a little more than an hour after he was due to land. I went on the web and looked up car services until I found one that would pick him up at the airport and bring him back to campus for the bargain price of $60. So the next morning DH dropped him off at the airport and told him to call us when he landed. Later, I’m sitting in my dinky office at work when S called on his cell phone from the back seat of the limo, on his way back to campus. I’m picturing Mr Eighteen Years Old, in his t-shirt and jeans, riding in the back of a limo and calling me on his cell, arriving on campus in style, while mom and dad are toiling away to pay his tuition…</p>
<p>S is having problems with fans. He went with a small (6 in) fan that he said he could focus directly on him for sleeping and could stuff in his backpack for the music practice rooms. Turns out the cord is too short to reach the bed and extension cords are not allowed and there aren’t outlets in the practice rooms. Roommate has a tower oscillating fan that doesn’t reach the lofted beds and is too tall to sit on anything higher. Outing today to find a small battery operated fan for practicing and a larger fan w/ longer cord or power strip with a long cord to sit on top of the wardrobe to reach them in bed. I never thought we would be discussing so many options regarding fans.</p>
<p>S left (by plane) for his sophomore year 2 weeks ago with one bag and without housing. We learned on Facebook that he and his 2 roommates had finally made a deal on a house 7 miles from campus (he has no car) a couple of days ago. They “have the keys to the castle” and planned to move in yesterday. Mind you, classes started last Monday, the 25th. H emailed S today and finds out that S is still doing the “couch tour” of his college town. Seems he’s so busy with fraternity rush week (he’s “on the committee”) that he can’t move his duffelbag to the new digs and is still sleeping on someone’s couch. He says he’ll buy a mattress soon and complete move-in when he can.</p>
<p>archie - IKEA online has cheap mattresses, and they deliver. Year before last, S slept on one, on the floor, all year long. This year he is back in another apt, and thinks he’d like a bed this time! (Will still probably be IKEA.) He is currently sleeping on an airmattress he took with him. (AKA “guest bed.”)</p>
<p>Since he flies to school, he can’t take much with him. (Did leave some stuff there in his music locker.) He packed one suitcase of clothes, and I packed another with household goods - 1 frying pan, 1 sauce pan, several glasses, a couple bowls, assorted other kitchen tools, the above-mentioned air mattress, etc. His only request so far was was a phone call to find out how to hard boil eggs. </p>
<p>D and her roommate found a roach in their room, and had hysterics. Roomie kept an eye on it while D ran to the floor below (guys’ floor) to get help. (1:00 in the morning.) Two willing guys came and took care of it. D didn’t appreciate my comment that where one roach is seen, there are probably dozens lurking in the walls.</p>
<p>tango - D has the tower fan, but it fits on her windowsill, so does a good job. Does your S have a corner of his desk available for it - maybe just at night?</p>
<p>Move-in day at the Residence of the Privileged was amazing. The company has these student apartment buildings at a number of other campuses in the country, but this was “opening day” for it at Penn. 14 stories and EVERYONE moving in on one day- and most in line before 9am. My son said (before I arrived with the checkbook) that it looked “like an iphone release”. The place had a great system- lots of organization for check-in and paying the money. Lots of staff wearing shirts cleverly labeled “STAFF” to help. Oh, wait. Turns out “STAFF” expected some payola before they would actually bring their dollies over to YOUR pile of boxes. H, a friend of ours, me and WildChild himself managed with two small dollies and brute strength. There were only 3 elevators to manage this event, and the line to get up the elevator with your “stuff” was about an hour. We were moved in by noon, but had to take the stairs (11 flights) several times. It was all pretty amazing, but the place is worth it. Safe, clean, new with a nice fitness center and great retail on the ground level. Closer to the important stuff on campus than most of the campus housing. TV and internet working. Trip to IKEA today for yet another set of bookshelves and some odds and ends. I’m done. The rest is up to him.</p>
<p>binx, thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately, they are on the top floor and have skylights, so no windowsill. The beds are both lofted so desks are underneath. Really about all they can have is a medium-sized oscillating fan that will sit on top of the wardrobe with a long enough cord to plug in. S2 is always hot. Until we figured out what he was doing, he would turn the air conditioner on in the middle of winter “because it was hot in his room.” I may just ship him a couple of ice bags that he can sleep with–I guess it would be the opposite of a hot water bottle!</p>
<p>MOWC, the place sounds amazing. Nothing like where my kid lived. My kid lived in a tower dorm of suites, and it was so decrepit, I was sure it was going to burn down. Penn did an article in the magazine they send to parents about refurbishing the dorms, and I wrote them an email saying I was glad because I thought they were a fire hazard. Person who wrote the article wrote back and told me they weren’t redoing my kid’s dorm. But she forwarded my email to the person in charge of that particular dorm, and he wrote me back a terse: Your kid is an adult; stay out of it. (So why’d they send me the magazine?)</p>
<p>I think the deal with everyone moving in on one day was because the city would only allow the double parking/unloading etc on the one day. There were police everywhere. Also, this is the only time this will happen because the building was brand new and ALL residents were new.</p>
<p>It is really nice housing, and all the parents I met (except for the one man screaming at the Black Shirts for “cutting in line” (they get to do that once they get their payola) were considerate and appreciative of the issues involved. Several said they were so horrified by the living conditions in both Penn dorms and off-campus dumps that they were willing to pay for this new option. All utilities, cable TV and internet are included in the rent. There are some Drexel students living there and some Penn grad students, but mostly Penn undergrads. It faces one of the high rises Binx is talking about. Thank goodness the units are furnished, so there wasn’t much furniture moving in- just the essentials like 42 inch LCD TVs and pillow top mattresses…</p>