A cockroach.
In our shower.
No the above cockroach is not the exact roach that was in there, as Susan killed it before we could get a picture of it. (She killed it by spraying it with cleaner - she can't stand the crunch they make when you step on them. I haven't tried yet, but I will do my best to stay too far away from them to ever need to hear the crunch!)
Not that either one of us would've stopped and said, "Ooo look, a coackroach in our APARTMENT. Let's give it a photo shoot!" No, definitely not. This was the first one we've seen actually inside the apartment. They're all over outside.
So the above cockroach is just a picture I found on google, and looks like the ones around (and now in, apparently) our apartment.
Let me just get this out please...
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
So for all you people who THINK you know how big cockroaches are, unless you live in Corpus Christi, you have no idea. We're talking like 4 inch cockroaches! And to make matters so much worse... they fly!!
They are everywhere. Seriously, everywhere. And they chase me, I swear they do. As I walk from my car to the apartment at night their creepy little bodies scamper in front of me... and I squeal and run. Well the second they hear that squeel I swear they change course and come right for me!
You know, I thought that spiders made the top of my hate list, but these things give them a run for their money! They're nasty with their long antennas slowly waving from side to side, as evil thoughts about crawling into your bed at night creep into their pea-size brains. (Okay I don't really know if they have pea-size brains, but if you'd like to find out go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockroach)
Ew ew ew ew. I hope that Susan is the only one of us who ever has a cockroach encounter in our apartment.On to other news. I just read that AC has taken a "meteoric upswing" in summer enrollment. As of right now there are 3,629 students enrolled. (http://www.actx.edu/) That is so crazy! The press release says that this is a 15.98% increase in a year. HOLY COW! That's a big increase! I'm glad I got my summer classes registered for early. I actually registered at midnight the official day we could. I was online getting it done as soon as possible. Hahah OCD much?
Speaking of summer classes, I am taking a government class, and a biology class. Let me just say the cost of textbooks is RIDICULOUS. I only paid $50 more for my actual class (bio) than my parents did for my textbooks and lab kit (and yes, I am extremely thankful that my wonderful mom and dad could help me out with these textbooks while I'm in Corpus)! Seriously, it should be illegal to charge students, or anyone for that matter, that much for some dumb books, some of which you hardly ever open!
This has been a frustrating issue forever as far as I know. AC does help out as much as possible, however. They offer what are called bundle packages (textbooks wrapped together in a bundle with one price). Ironically, my bio textbooks were in bundles. Can you imagine how much it would have cost if they weren't bundled? Holy cow!
(College textbook story I wrote a couple semesters ago: http://media.www.ac-ranger.com/media/storage/paper733/news/2008/10/09/FrontPage/College.Books.Costly-3486543.shtml bear with the story, I was a rookie haha)
Well, I do believe that's about all for this post.
There's sure to be another amusing or disturbing story at some point, and I will be sure to keep all of my faithful readers (are you out there?!?!) informed.
The US Government Accountability Office’s 2005 report on the high price of college textbooks http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d05806.pdf found that in the last two decades textbook prices have increased at twice the rate of inflation. The report found the primary reason behind the cost increases was increased costs associated with developing high tech products to accompany textbooks, such as CD-ROMS. Recently, Texas legislators have introduced bills aimed at lowering the cost of textbooks. The Texas Community College Teachers Association http://tccta.org/ has fought legislation that would curtail faculty members’ freedom in choosing books and has encouraged faculty to seek cost-saving strategies. One option for lowering textbook prices could be e-readers such as the Kindle. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/06/AR2009050600813.html?hpid=moreheadlines What do you think? Personally, I know many faculty members who go out of their way to choose the cheapest textbooks possible. In one of my departments, we have adopted a customized black-and-white version of the text to lower the cost. Unfortunately, not all courses have lower-priced textbook options. And, if you’re mad about textbook prices, don’t call the AC Bookstore, http://www.actx.edu/bookstore/, call the book publishers to complain!
Well, I agree that the publishing companies are to blame not the AC bookstore, but what about textbook buybacks? I understand they have to make money but they're buying back our books for (IF WE'RE LUCKY) 1/4 of what we bought it for and then selling it at the regular price. That's why I suggest websites like half.com or amazon to buy/sell textbooks. You can usually find it for a few dollars cheaper than in the bookstore and you sell it back for usually about the same price!!
Madelyn,
just so you know, I just killed a cockroach in my garage. Maybe they are big in Corpus, but this one looked pretty ferocious! It was an epic battle, and the doctors say I'll eventually recover, but the cockroach is dead, and that's all that matters. Haha! :D
Bill
Yes I agree! Corpus Christi has the largest roaches. They live inside the palm trees.