by: antsy

Living on your own can really bring the best out of you. Work terms are really fun because you get to make some money and have evenings and weekends free. You actually have time to catch up on some hockey, generally goof around for four months, and cook decent meals. Oh, macaroni AND cheese!

It can also bring the absolute horrifyingly worst out of you, and the work terms are what makes study terms so tough. Constant deadlines, hours in the lab (UGH!) and the constant sacrifices you make to stay afloat in class. The situation at my apartment is getting worse and worse...

I'll be the first to admit that our place is pretty ghetto. The two couches we have were bought at a yard sale for $130 for the deuce. One's the 'diseased couch' that started off smelling like cigarettes, and the other one is a futon with a metal bar that digs into your lower lumbar when you sit on it. I, personally, prefer the second one (I care little about my lumbar).

We managed to get the TV and VCR from my parents and they're decent, so I can't complain. Using the TV remote led to some frustration since it requires an almost perfect alignment with the sensor on the TV set. Even pressing the buttons while touching the sensor with the front of the remote would be finicky. Could it have been the batteries? Whatever.

Eventually, we ran the cable through the VCR and used the VCR remote. Success! Everything was fine, except for my roommate's unsightly manner of changing the channel. Since the coffee table is solid wood, pointing at the VCR with the remote requires holding it straight up and angling it downwards. Which, combined with hardcore slouching on the couch, is... not pretty.

But... the remote is broken.

Now, an apartment with two electrical engineers would normally throw their heads back in hearty laughter at such a quandry. But without the time to deal with it, or perhaps for the amusement of YOU readers, we haven't fixed it. We have resolved to use a pole.

A ski pole, to be precise. Tap, tap. After some practice, I must admit my roommates handle the pole deftly, not unlike a rapier. (how did they change channels back then anyway?) You should seriously watch jv (roomie alias) change the channel with his feet... what excellent toe control.

I often just say "Oh man, the pole." and burst out laughing. The pole has honestly become a part of the TV watching experience. But it all turned ugly when Fromasta (other roomie) went skiing for the day, and took the pole with him. Mind you, we have other poles, but as jv fervently explained, "yah, but that one has a flatter edge to it." As you can guess, no TV was watched that day.

And then there are the pole jokes... you handle your pole so well... you could put my eye out with your pole... 'where's your pole?' followed by 'the pole's behind you, as always'... stop hogging your pole... *sigh*

Oye. The pole.