A nice cop and "Boneless" Wings

So, I dodged another bullet with the po-po today... here's what went down:

Ian and I went to Williamsburg today.... it was a hot shopping date (David from Topeka's would be jealous... hahaha) really I just needed a new button down shirt.... so on the way home, I was in the fast lane behind this white car... that in hindsight, I should have recognized to be a cop car but anyways..... there was this car coming up behind me and ended up tailgating me, so I sped up a little and was riding too close to the cop (white car in front of me)....... he flashes his lights, and pulls into the right lane, and gives me this look of absolute disgust and sternly points to the right side of the road. So I pull over and he comes up to my car and says "license and registration, I am pulling you over for reckless driving" so I give him that stuff and he askes how my driving record is. I say thats its perfectly clean (true statement) and he starts lecturing me, saying I was drving too closely, and that had he had slammed on his breaks, I would have slammed into him or ended up in a tree on the side of the road. Then I told him about the car behind me.... and he said (exact words): "Well this one is going to be on you, but in the future you are really going to need to watch out because I patrol these roads and look for people like you...... oh wait, sorry, this one is going to be on me, but you still need to watch out" I then drove off, doing the speed limit the rest of the way. My heart rate was probably at about 150 BPM cause reckless driving is a lot... including a mandatory court appearance. It was obviously my good looks that got me out of the ticket.

In other news, I received official notification from George Washington today on my interview. It will be on December 8th. I am pretty excited to receive official word, though it came in a small envelope with one piece of paper, so for the second that I was opening it, I was afraid I got switched to the reject pile. Lucky for me...

Topeka's is riding a thin line with me right now. I had a real rough night tonight, and could have dealt without all the BS from some of the other servers and customers... then of course not to mention the low amount of tips. We will see (said the blindman). The good thing about working there is that most everyone is easygoing, and sarcasm runs rampant. It's just that sometimes people really get on my nerves.

Random thought. Ian, Mike and I went to BW3's tonight (after I got home), and they had a special on "Boneless Wings." I must say that I was not too impressed with them as I felt they were merely glorified chicken nuggets. They did not look like wings, and more importantly, they did not have the same wing meat. It really was just an enlarged chicken nugget. I mean it was good, but I was really in the mood for wings and I got chicken nuggets. I digress.

I have nothing to do tomorrow, which is real sweet. Well, besides clean my room. It's a disaster area. And for the first time in awhile, I don't have the excuse that it is "test week" Cause lets be honest, I am not taking any tests, and it feels good.

Still waiting...
-wait

WVU and Wilma

(Sorry again, no Topeka's update)

I ended up throwing in an application to WVU last week on request of my mom who had talked with the Dean of Admissions there (they turned out to be friends from back in the day). I also found out that my great grandfather, my namesake, as well as his brother graduated from WVU medicine.

Apparently that connection to West Virginia University School of Medicine warrants a secondary application to the school that rejected me in under 3 weeks last year. Secondary applications are handed out to qualified West Virginia residents, and only very highly qualified non-residents along with non-residents who have a strong connection to the state. As I am not a highly touted applicant to medical school, it is clearly the connection to the school that I needed to be awarded a secondary application. Hopefully now they will come through with an interview and a subsequent acceptance.

Please hold the inbreeding jokes back (for now).

Ok ok, I will give an update on Topeka's. Pardon the pun, but the story I have finally came out at work. People are asking me about it, and wanting to know more. I think it has evolved into a legend that will live down in the lore of Topeka's Steakhouse history. I had to pick up my paycheck from the HR lady today, and had to fill out a short survey of how I felt working there. I talked to her a little bit about what happened, and she said that if anything comes up in work (haha... comes up.... sorry.) that I need to let her know. She says she knows the guy pretty well and would be surprised if anything were to happen. He is on his "Pastoral Counseling" trip to New Orleans for about another week, so I have one week left of freedom (well from him).

Wilma ripped through the state of Florida (just in case you don't follow the news). A lot of the destruction occured in Broward County, which is where my parents live for 9 months out of the year. The mayor said the amount of damage hasn't been seen in over 50 years. My parents stuck out the storm in Orlando as they were on the way down when the storm developed. It's been reported (from neighbors who stuck around) that we lost our screened-in porch, and that the hurricane shutters were ripped off of our neighbors house, breaking windows and flooding their bedroom. They are now staying in our house, without power and electricity. I guess it is better to actually have 4 walls with intact windows and a roof. Pending the power recovery, my parents remain in limbo -- they are deciding whether or not to stay in the hotel in Orlando, or head back home until Ft. Lauderdale recovers some.

I also talked to Steve Saul, and he is part of the 2% that has power in South Florida. So he's going to have a "power hour party" in the near future. Clever, I think. He is fine and his building is fine.

Still waiting...
-wait

G-dubya

It's amazing how some feelings can be so transient. Better yet, it's amazing how a crappy mood can go to a happy mood after reading 1 email.

Yesterday afternoon I emailed the Dean of Admissions at George Washington, to update her on what I have been doing in Richmond (We have been in contact since the middle of August). When I got home from Crossover Clinic this afternoon, in my inbox was a letter from the dean, commending me for my volunteer work. She said that she also reviewed my file this morning, and has passed me to the interview stage, with a formal invitation to come shortly. So I am really excited about this right now. Like... really excited. :-D

In other news, I guess the feeling of resentment for EVMS is still there. It is hard to let go of the school that I thought so much of. I reread the letter over and over, and I have realized it was the harshest rejection that I have gotten. There were a mere 50 words in the letter, and 20 of them was the phrase "the entering class of 2006 at the Eastern Virginia Medical School" repeated twice. (ie: nearly 1/2 the letter was a repeat... ok well kind of)

However, I am really happy that I now have my first interview, and it is in DC, especially at GW. (I guess I wouldn't mind Georgetown, but GW is a lot better).

Well, I need to head off to Topeka's now. I wonder if Jennifer is going to be there, and if so, if she asks whether or not I can take her home tonight. Too bad I can't. (please note the sarcasm.)

still waiting...
-wait

Speechless

To begin, I must inform you that this post has nothing to do with Topeka's.

My parents leave for Florida tomorrow, and because of this, they decided too pay me a visit down in Richmond before they headed off. They brought with them a couple things... like my jackets (it's getting cold) and the mail that has come to me at my house. Among the postal items I received was the November issue of Outside magazine.Also mixed in the grabbag of posted items were offers for credit cards, some Nivea Facial Cleanser, that I apparently requested, and, the main reason for this entry, a letter from the Eastern Virginia Medical School (henceforth known as EVMS)

For a little background, EVMS is a school that I have really grown to love. You may have never heard of it (or maybe you have) but of the 4 schools I visited last year, the students there were the happiest I met, and it is only 20 minutes from the beach! The board scores are pretty decent as well; they may not put 1/2 the class into a derm residency, but there is something to be said for a school that rents out an entire hotel so the entire school (MS1-4's) can hang out together for a weekend. So for the past 2 years, I was put on their waiting list, and much to my dismay, I was never taken off the waitlist, which is probably quite obvious as my posting about my applying to medical school for a 3rd time.

I knew that a letter from EVMS was coming, as my dad had called me yesterday saying there was a letter for me. I had kind of talked myself into believing that they switched from email to regular mail to announce interviews, which makes no sense whatsoever, but how could I be rejected without even an interview? Here is the text of this "magnificent" rejection letter:

"Dear Mr. Xxxxxx,
Your application to the entering class of 2006 at EVMS has been reviewed. Unfortunately, we are unable to grant you an acceptance to the Entering Class of 2006 at the Eastern Virginia Medical School.

We regret that all interested applicants cannot be accepted, but wish you much success in your future endeavors.

Sincerely,
[I'll leave his name out]"

Wow. WOW. Maybe I am still in shock, maybe not. But either way, I cannot honestly believe 2 things. 1: That I got this letter. 2: That they can be so cursory. 3 sentences. And somehow, I really don't believe that line about them wishing me success in my future endeavors. I poured my heart out to them last year. I sent them letters almost biweekly, I drove down there to meet with the dean over 4th of July. I really loved this school, and there is something that makes me feel so horrible about the situation. Part of me thinks that there is nothing I can do "Really, what's the point, they interviewed me twice and didn't accept me twice." I don't know, it just makes me feel pretty horrible.

Is there ever a point where I should stop waiting for this to happen? I have been driven for 3 years in my attempts to get into medical school, and yeah, I know it is still early in this cycle, but I haven't heard much yet, and what I have heard hasn't been good. It just sucks.

still waiting (?)
-wait

The Letter

Of course, as soon as I say things calmed down at Topeka's, I receive this letter from Jennifer last night:

Wait - Since the beginning of our fated association I have become infatuated with the letter "W". That said, I could pose a plethora of "w" questions to you in this first of many correspondences. When? Why? What? and yet I am more curious as to the how. How will you be formally inducted into the alphabet hall of fame? Will the tone be innocence and light? Something as harmless as 2 bodies brushing by - when no one was around to notice so that clothes fall away as easily as leaves? Or will it be violent as a revolution of flesh and ideas? Ideas about limbs and which way they should bend: a new paradigm in the bedroom! But then there is nothing better than a seduction, the actors and their stage with their pretty words. How will [you] differentiate yourself with those who came before you? A special touch OR could it be that you are a symptom of a time and place, the end result of my desire to complete something/anything. To scratch a name off the list.

Take that as you will. Jennifer claims to write letters like this "all the time."

Calmer? Well at least Topeka's drama died down

Well I wish I had another crazy update on the going ons at Topeka's, but I think my "fresh meat" status has worn off, and I am just another crazy who works at Topeka's. The only new thing was that girl Jennifer told me (pretty jokingly) that she a goal of hers is to have sex with guys whose names starts with each letter of the alphabet, and that my being a W would really help her out. I am not sure how this fits in her dating Katie, but I digress.

Otherwise, work at Topeka's is going alright. There have been some good tables ($10 tip on a $28 check, with a comment card saying they loved me) and some other not so good ones ($3 on $40 and $8 on $80... the first of those was a family that is notorious at Topeka's for leaving low tips, and the second was really strange, because they filled out a comment card saying that I was a really friendly server, and they liked me, yet they only tipped 10%. ugh. I feel like I need to tell these people that I only make $2.13 an hour and tips are the way I really get by). As one of the coworkers (one I haven't mentioned) said, "you can't take any tips personally... except the good ones!"

There were 2 notable conversations last night that were probably the most polar opposite converstaions. The first was where one of the waitresses was picking up another waiter, and there happened to be some porn on the computer. It was of a girl performing some action, and there were dudes on the video, who all recited in unison "Oh... my... god" It was really funny listening to the servers tell the story, and now one of our sayings at Topeka's is "Oh... my... god". The other conversation that took place was between one of the cooks and I. He asked what I was doing, and I gave him the brief version. He said that he was a Neuro major down at VCU, and then we started talking about neurotrophic growth factors over the food window. I felt like a pretty large nerd, and I also felt the need to laugh at how completely different these 2 conversations were.

I have also been volunteering at Crossover Clinic on Mon-Wed mornings and that is going alright. It is cool being in the medical environment, I just wish that I could do more. Right now I am mostly doing stuff with patients charts, making appointments, talking to patients about registering and stuff. I mean it's fine, but in the first couple days I was made to feel very small as one of the workers there would say to me "Hey babe, do you think you could locate Mario Lopez's file for me" like she was talking to a 3 year old saying "hey babe, do you think you could put that toy in the box for me" So there was one morning I wanted to punch her. The next morning it was me in the front office with another volunteer and that same woman, and she was like "Hey guys, will you watch the front office... I need to go pray" She came back like an hour and a half later... no joke. She is the one getting paid here. Come on! But it is getting better, and I hope to get myself a little more established there and maybe some mornings I'd be able to actually shadow the doctors and nurses and actually deal with the medical side of things. I am just hoping that what I am doing now is okay for the medical schools.

I am also starting to volunteer for the hospice. I head in there tomorrow to meet with my patient. And that is all I can say about that (HIPAA).

Today Ian headed off to New York to visit Sarah, and I let him drive my car to the airport. I would have driven him, but his flight took off at 615AM. So I actually ended up biking to the airport. I know many of you aren't from Richmond, so the airport is a good chunk away and I needed to actually bike through the city. It was pretty cool, and Mike was pretty amazed that I biked there, but it only took 45 minutes and is only 12.6 miles away. I almost put my bike on the roof, and that would have been bad because of the low clearance of the garage, but Ian remembered to remind me not to do that (by leaving a note).

I really wish I could give updates on medical school information since what I want to be conveying to you all is the process of the applying to medical school. But I guess most of the process is simply waiting. The sheer volume of applications these schools receive means that they need to actually sort through them all. Oh, and I am not sure I have posted this before, which would mean it is news to the blog; but I have just had a pretty hard time accepting it and for me to put something on the blog means I need to be completely comfortable with it... but I was rejected from VCU/MCV awhile back (It's probably been at least a month). It really sucks to get that rejection (again) because I really do like Richmond, and it means that I will be moving again (assuming I actually get into a school, and if I don't that I move away from Richmond). Of course moving is the least of my concerns, it just hurts to be rejected from the school that is local, and everyone asking so "Are you applying to VCU?" I keep lying to them saying that there is still a chance I will be here next year. Little do they all know... joke's on them.... hehehe.

So that's about all. I am obviously....

still waiting,
-wait

Where the F do I work???

For starters, originally I was not going to post what happened the other night because I thought what happened was really strange and out of the ordinary, but after last night, I found out that it was not out of the ordinary.

My last post concerned the girl Jennifer who I was under the impression liked me. If you haven't read that, do that NOW. Well when I returned to Topeka's on Tuesday, the "drama" only got thicker, and I was put right in the middle of EVERYTHING. So I took the menu test on Tuesday, and I passed, so I began my shadowing experience on Tuesday night. I ended up shadowing a guy named David. While I was taking the test, he said that after work we should grab a beer together. That sounded innocent enough, so I acquiesced. It ended up being that David was cut about an hour before me, so he ended up giving me his cell phone number and for me to call him if I wanted to grab that beer. He said he was going to be at the Applebee's down the road. In the couple minutes that followed, I found out that David was gay. But, I still didn't think too much of it. I mean, just grabbing a beer with a coworker. So I end up shadowing another server for about an hour, and then I was cut, and I had a dilemna on my hands, so I ended up calling Ian to see what I should do. He said he probably wouldn't do it... but I was kinda thinking that it was just Applebee's, it's not like its a big gay scene. So I call David and show up to Applebee's.

While at Applebee's, I found out that he doesn't drive because of a DUI. So I offered to drive him home, so he doesn't have to walk it. I also found out that he is going to New Orleans in a couple weeks to do Pastoral Care, and that he is going to seminary next year. That put me a little bit at rest thinking that this guy wouldn't actually try and do anything if he is going to be a pastor (however, I should have thought about the Catholic priests). We end up going to another bar, and it was during this bar experience that I became... well scared. He started talking about his exboyfriends (numerous), how he got married in 1980 as a cover up to his being gay... yes, that puts him at about 50 years old. Then he starts talking about how he isn't sure if seminary is right for him... yadda yadda... and then suddenly stops and says that he has never told anyone this before, and that he is probably telling me because he thinks I am cute and sexy and that he has a crush on me. The long and short of it... the conversation was pretty one sided with me giving "uh-huh"'s and informing him that I am, in fact, straight ("oh, well that's cool" was his response). There was a lot more said, but I kind of want to leave that out, because it makes me feel pretty uncomfortable.

So I end up saying I was leaving after feeling appropiately uncomfortable after being hit on for about 30 minutes by a guy who is old enough to be my dad. I guess I now know what its like to be a girl hit on by the older sketchy guy. Since I told him I would drive him home, he leaves as well, and I drive him to his house. And he lives with his mom. I pull about 1/2 way into his driveway, leave the car running, in drive, with my seatbelt on, and stick out my hand to shake his to attempt to cut off any advances and told him that I would see him on Thursday. He proceeds to make another pass at me, asking me to pull the car forward and turn it off. I again state that I am not that way and that he should get out of my car. He finally did, after a one sided hug... where I needed to push him off me.

So. I wish the story ended there. Buuuuuuuuuuut it doesn't.

Thursday comes and I show up to work and run into Jennifer. I happen to be shadowing her that night and the thought that runs through my head is "good, at least its the girl who likes me, and not the guy". Jennifer and I run into another server and they start talking/joking about the pediphile... and I was dumbfounded as I questioned whether or not it was David. It was. I pressed Jennifer a little more and she eventually asks me if he has tried to hit on me yet. I proceeded to tell her the entire story of what happened Tuesday night. She laughed really hard, and then told me a story about her and him when she was 19. They went to a bar, and David told Jennifer that he was a really good kisser, and ended up taking his hand, putting it behind her head and kissing her, tongue and all. So Jennifer wasn't sure what story was funnier, but since mine was new, she said it will make her laugh for a long time coming.

Jennifer and I continue talking about David, and then eventually how another one of the managers is also gay, but that he's a lot easier to joke around with. Eventually Jennifer tells me that the manager asked her "Do you think Wait's a homo?" Jennifer said no way, but he didn't believe her... soooooooo he asked her to find out. Hence... THE NOTE. It turns out that Jennifer doesn't actually like me, and that would mainly be because she is also gay! And dating someone there named Katie!

So, if you are like Ian, you may be wondering "Is anyone who works there straight??" And there is an emphatic yes to that one. One of the other waitresses, who is 18... 18! has talked to Jennifer about wanting to spice up her sex life. She has already done Cops and Robbers, has chains and handcuffs and what not, but needs more ways to spice it up.

I digress. I am going to see how things go over the next couple weeks (I am finally on the floor tomorrow night, so I actually start making money which I need at this point). But if things get any weirder, I might keep my eyes peeled for other jobs in the food service business.

Oh, and no news on medical school.

-wait

Check Yes or No (while waiting)

Tonight was my last night of scut work! I know that term is usually is indicative of the crappy work 3/4 year students due in medical school, it sort of fit tonight as well. It is the "Hey, take this to table 43. Take this to table 12. And this to table 2." My only question to that is "Where the F is table 2?" At Topeka's we don't actually have a table 2, but we do have an incompetent server who screwed up table numbers all night and screwed up orders. Really makes for an interesting evening when you are delivering a filet mignon to a table that wanted mozzeralla sticks.

I thusly finished food running tonight and can now tell the difference between a sirloin, filet mignon, porterhouse, T-Bone, and Rib-eye. All things considered, the only difference I can see between a filet and a sirloin is that the filet gets 2 toothpicks and the sirloin gets 1. I digress.

The expo last night was named Jennifer. She is probably an inch or 2 taller than me, and maybe about 25. Her mom is the bartender at Topeka's, and Jennifer carries an attitude bigger than I don't know what. People call her mean, but the only thing I can do is be "mean" back. I have found out the true meaning of "fight fire with fire" over the past couple days as I have heard about many of the servers/hostesses complaining about the others because they are "mean." But the only thing you can do is go to their level, and that usually makes them laugh. I somewhat feel my maturity level has decreased, but at the same time, it is awesome interacting with all of my coworkers as they are not what I have come across in my ventures through the University of Richmond and Georgetown University. Of course I say that in complete fear of making some huge overarching generalization, however many of these people have been looking just to get through High School, and the people I met at Georgetown have Master's degrees now. (Please don't think I am so horrible person by saying this). I really have loved every minute of it and am really starting to like the people I am working with it. Sarcasm is rampant and that is basically what gets us through the nights.

Back to Jennifer though. Tonight she was a server (as opposed to expo last night) and I was acting like I always do -- Like I said, playing off what the others give me -- and at one point, I saw Jennifer writing in the corner of the restaurant by the break room. I had happened to be looking for the manager at this time, and tried the break room, when Jennifer handed whatever it was she was writing to me. It said:
"Check one:
_ Girlfriend
_ Boyfriend
_ Single
_ Seasponge"

I got a pretty good laugh out of this and sort of felt like I was in 3rd grade. I was reminded of the country song "Check yes or no" when the singer was given a note saying "Do you love me? Check yes or no" Unfortunately I did not have a pen, but a few minutes afterwards, Jennifer gave me a pen to check which box it was the most pertained to me. Being the sexy stud I am, I chose single. For the rest of the night, things started getting a little "weird" that is she wasn't as playful, but started asking me more in depth questions (other than "what kind of food is this"). And it really felt like she was more thinking along the lines of "oh crap, what do I do now" thing. I just liked to laugh at the humor of it all.

Wow, I really can't believe I just broadcasted that to everyone reading this. Let's just say I am not going post what I really think about the situation, and you guys can use some sort of imagination. (Don't let it get too out of control :) ). I am sure though in time you will find out what has happened (either way).

Doing a complete 180 -- I recieved 2 small envelopes this week from Medical Schools. Which is REALLY disheartening. The first one was from Tufts University. But luckily, that only said that my application was complete. The second was from Penn State (in Hershey, not State College). The letter said that I was in the "Continue to Review" Category and that a decision about my application would be made at a later date. Fun Times. Essentially that letter means (I think) that they don't quite want to reject me, but I am not yet quite good enough for an interview, but I could be if they do not recieve enough applications that are better than mine.

So the waiting continues. I found the complete irony in the title of my blog "Waiting Around" the other week when I put together that I have been waiting around for a medical school acceptance. I originally used it as a play on my name (which, by the way, I have gotten TONS of jokes at work about) but it has completely transformed into this dogma that is my life. I am in a perpetual state of waiting. Not to get too philosophical, but isn't that essentially what all of life really is going to be? Waiting for something new? The way I see it is that I am waiting to get into medical school, then I will be waiting to go to school, then I will be waiting to start meeting with patients, then I will be waiting to hear about my residency, my job, my wife, my kids, my retirement (and, morbidly, my death). It's a constant waiting game. I guess the only thing I can do is enjoy each different period and what it gives me. Whether that be waiting (heh) tables, or treating patients, every "thing" that I am going to encounter is going to have some sort of mark on the story that is my life.

So maybe that can incorporate into a possible signoff slogan: "Still waiting..." (I'll see how that flies over the next few posts.)

-Still waiting...
waiter