The Younger Boy Is Going Away To College And I’m Freaking Out A Bit

He went to a local school and got his associate’s degree, but is now going to Temple University to finish his bachelor’s. We’ve known this for a long time, of course. But now it’s about to freaking happen, and whenever I think about it my stomach drops. Not that I worry about him getting into trouble (not really), or being able to do the work (not an issue). It’s something more vague and murky than that. It’s more to do with the fundamental change to our family that’s fixin’ to occur. It’s time, I know, but that doesn’t help with the emotional side of it. It’s always sad when one chapter closes, ya know? The current situation is sometimes irritating (God knows), but the thought of it changing? I’m not really a fan o’ that, either. It’s all emotion, nothing to do with logic… I know we’ll survive, but it’s taking its toll. The older boy is having a harder time with it than anticipated, too. It’s going to be a rough couple of weeks.

Because of the virus, the move-in process is nothing short of ludicrous. I know that might be hard for some of you to believe. But we have a one-hour window to get him all set up, then we have to go. No lingering… no long goodbyes. We’ll just have to sprint in and out of his building with baskets of bedding ‘n’ shit, and hit the highway. Maybe that’s better? Also, our appointed hour starts at 8:40 am on Sunday. So, we’re going to have to leave our house at some impossible hour. Like six in the morning? Sweet sainted mother of Al Hrabosky! And only one parent can be in the building at once. So, when Toney’s up there, I’ll have to wait outside, and vice versa. It’s going to be one weird-ass day. I’m going to propose Cracker Barrel afterward, just to get ourselves centered. I hope I’m not blubbering straight into my hash brown casserole.

He’s going to have three roommates. Four of them together in one dorm/apartment. He knows nothing, has not been in contact with any of them… or even creeped on their Facebook pages. I find that incredible. I’d be all up in that shit. Oh well. And every student has to be tested within 24 hours, then weekly thereafter. There are testing centers on campus, and it’s up to each student to keep up with it. And if they don’t… their badges will be turned off and they won’t be able to scan into any of the buildings. That’s a pretty solid incentive. Right?

Also… Temple is in a not-so-great area of Philly. That’s another small concern. The campus is safe, I’m sure. But the surrounding area? Not so much. Hopefully he’ll be careful. He probably will be. But it’s fuel for scenarios. And I’m a master at conjuring the tragic scenarios. I have a black belt in it.

So, that’s going on. Also, my car is in the shop: water pump. It supposedly requires four hours of labor to replace it, and is costing us $476. Grrr… It overheated a few nights ago, while I was driving home from work. My dad told me it was almost certainly the thermostat or water pump, and said the latter would be more expensive to fix. So, there you go. My nipples are exploding with delight. There’s nothing I enjoy more than handing over large sums of money to get us back to where we were three days ago. Man, that’s good stuff.

And speaking of ball-crushing… I need to get ready for work now.

I don’t really have a question, just a quick check-in. I hope you’re all doing well.

I’ll see you soon.

Support us with a monthly $4 donation at Patreon , and get an extra podcast episode every week! We’re also at Venmo (@thewvsr) and PayPal (jeff@thewvsr.com). Thank you, guys!