A long day

Hi all.
My class is spending the whole day in computers, so this might just turn itself into a monster blog.
Class is good, great, very challenging, and backbreaking in turns. This past month has been just as intense as the last one, and the upcoming week is going to be very busy. I think a lot of stress, frustration, and lack of sleep kind of came to a head yesterday. Basically, as much as we've been learning, and as great as it has been, a lot of us are still worrying about marks and working really hard on our assignments (a little too hard, we've been told, but it's hard to break the habit), and trying to juggle our time and our nerves is...hard. Yesterday a lot of people were feeling very frustrated and stressed, and I guess we kind of lost it a little.
Cynthia came in and we were talking about assignments and tests and things, and there was a lot of discussion about what we as the students need and what the teachers are doing and saying. Cynthia is really good at calming people down, and she's fantastic at explaining things, which I think helps a lot. The talk yesterday helped, but I think we maybe need more of those talks. I might suggest it to Cynthia, for the next class.
Part of what's taking up our time these days is extra stuff outside of class. Tonight is a wine and cheese for the Children's Writer's Class that we're invited to, and I want to go, but there is SO MUCH WORK to get home to (besides, I promised Mom I'd be home for dinner- she's making fish).
But you get the gist, with the busy and the crazy making.
There is one thing taking up my time this weekend that I'm so happy for, though. In I'm Telling You for the Last Time Jerry Seinfeld talks about hearing of Hallowe'en when he was a child;

"What? Someone's giving out candy, who is giving out candy?...EVERYONE WE KNOW is giving out candy?! Wah-I- I have got to be a part of this, I'll do anything they want- ...I can wear that!"

Now. Replace the word "candy" with "books", and you've got my EXACT attitude about the Canadian Book Expo, this sunday, to which I am most definitely going! (No, I don't have to dress up in costume, but if they wanted my left arm in payment, they could have it. (I need the right one- it's the one that writes and turns the pages).
I'm sure I'll have gushes to say about it after sunday.

Okay, and here's a little thing that will make you go "What?! Why in hell is this the first time I'm hearing about this?"
So, what happened? Well, I was at work last week, and there was about a half hour left until closing, and Melissa and I were getting antsy to go home, despite our low sales. So, when we got a 'high roller' in, who wanted to spend a pile, we were kind of stoked that our sales would go up. But these two guys came in, and they were all not-nice (to say the least), and they we're getting a very large pile together. The one guy kept wanting suggestions from me, saying "What do girls like, what do you like?" Everything I handed him just went in the pile- he didn't care what he was buying.
That was when Melissa and I started to get nervous. Those guys weren't acting right.
As soon as they were done, Melissa rang everything up, and it took her forever- they had over $1500 of stuff. When she told them their total, the guy pulled out a bunch of very obviously fake cards. She hesitated to take them, and the guy started muttering threats, so only we could hear. We were afraid, and there was no way to call security (there's no place hidden from view where I work, and no emergency button like there should be), so she ran the cards through. They were all accepted. Just before the guys took off, the one grabbed a handful of stuff from the bag and set it back on the desk, and said "Here, these are yours." so, what, we were getting paid off? Fat freaking chance! We locked the stuff in a drawer, closed ten minutes early, and ran home!
The next morning we'd calmed down and called head office and the police. Everyone said it wasn't our fault, and our jobs are safe and there's nothing for us to worry about. We still feel bad about it, but what can you do?
The only question is, what happens to the stuff they left behind? We're waiting for a decision from head office. I should find out saturday- I'll keep you all updated.
Meanwhile, I'm not as upset as I was. When it happened, I was like, "I don't like the big city anymore! I'm moving back to Sarnia!" Now...well, trust me, Sarnia is no an option. But I hate working in a freaking MALL! I'm fully looking forward to burying myself in the nice, safe world of publishing.

Oh! And I've recently confirmed that there is no more training or certification needed for publishing in other countries. When I finish this course I can get a job in Canada...or Britain, the States, Australia...ANYWHERE! Bah ha ha! World, you are my playground.

Yeah, this blog was a little random.