Over The Edge Page 12 Happy Halloween From Over The Edge Ny and the Ghost of Room 7-212 Financial Tips Continued from Page 11 Another tip is to 4) bring a list. The theory behind bringing a list is that you will not get dis- tracted by aimlessly wondering down isles grabbing everything at eye level because you can’t remember what you needed. You have a goal so you will be less likely to buy extra things you really don’t need. Textbooks: Another friend of mine always used to 5) check if the library had the latest edition of the required text in question or even the addition before. This does require some effort as you have to renew the book and you shouldn’t mark it up and if it is an earlier addition then. you may have some trouble looking up things in class when the teacher is discussing text material. 6) An eas- ier idea is to go early to the bookstore and pur- chase used editions. 7) Borrow the book from a classmate and photo- copy the parts of the book that you need, especially since it is really annoying to buy a required text only to find that you only needed to read 20 pages of it. Clothing: 8) Always pur- chase clothes that are versatile and work with the rest of your wardrobe. Buy clothes that can be mixed and matched with other items so you don’t have to purchase too many individual outfits but will have quite a few outfits if items are versatile. Entertainment: 9) Have a potluck _—_ dinner. Everyone brings a dish. (M. Baker, THE DEBT- FREE GRADUATE). Baker explains that potlucks are quick, cost-efficient, and _fill- ing. Christmas shopping: 10) Start early and buy things on sale as they come up. Some other sources of information and sug- gested readings include: Baker, Murray. THE DEBT-FREE GRADU- ATE: How to survive college or university without going broke. Harper-Collins;1996. Chilton, David. The Wealthy Barber. Last week we left our fearless (?) heroes safe a gas station in Terrace Bay: Driver gets out and walks to the pulp mill to use the phone. It’s only about a two- minute walk. In fact, | soon dis- covered, everything in Terrace Bay is only about a_ two-minute walk. Small towns, you have to like them. Anywhoo, back in the car. Susan and | look at one another and of course we're thinking the same thing. Goof. Jerk. Moron. Idiot. We assure each other that Driver has just had his last turn at the wheel, (use your Elvis accent now) thank ya, thank ya very much. I’m not even going to bother writing about the deal Susan had with talking to CAA. But if anyone’s familiar with Abbott and Costello’s, “Who’s On First” routine, then you would be getting the picture. We got a hotel in town, thanks to the assistance of the lady who worked at the pulp mill. She was so nice to us. She gave usa cof- fee. She arranged for us to be driven back to the hotel, yeah, it was two minutes away. Her name was Barbara. Thank you, Barbara. The next day we learn that the transmission in Susan’s car died. The mechanic at the GM dealership tells us it will cost between four to five thousand dollars to fix. So | get my chequebook _out...not. What do you think...l’m made of money or something? Sheeesh! Susan had to sign over her car. The nearest auto wreckers is in Thunder Bay, and Susan’s CAA coverage didn’t cover the extra mileage. Naturally, Terrace Bay didn’t have a wreckers. There was no other choice. Auvoir, mon automobile. . And they didn’t give Susan any money for her car, not even the usual fifty or one hundred bucks. NUTHIN’. Too funny. If's so absurd you have to laugh. Susan said to the guy at the dealership, “What you’re saying is, you're not giving me anything for my car then?” “That’s right,” replied the efficient, amiable, pleasant little con-artist. “So | get nothing then?” Susan asked. (And might | add, she did a really good job of looking incredulous too.) “That's right,” he said, flashing that pearl white smile of his at us, “NUTHIN’.” Cool. Fast-forward to later that day. Susan and | decide to go on, to come to the future that awaits us in Prince George, British Columbia. Car- shmar...who needs it? As if we’re going to leta little thing like this deter us from realizing our goal. Some people would say we have a lot of tenacity. And some would say we are insane. Whatever. We each purchased Greyhound bus tickets at a local restaurant that also acts as the bus depot, and of course, it was only two minutes away from the dealer- ship. To make a looooong story short, Susan and | were on a bus for seventy-two hours. We traveled to Thunder Bay, Ontario, and from there we went to Winnipeg, to Saskatoon, to Edmonton and finally to Prince George. We also had to downsize. Previous to the bus we had a carload of stuff, our belongings. On the bus, we were allowed to bring two suitcases and a carry on bag. And that’s all. No more. Zip- O. We threw away about three-quarters of our possessions. We didn’t have a choice. We arrived in Prince George on August 26, at about 10:30 in the evening. We got a room at the Connaught Motor Inn. We were tired from dragging (literally) our luggage all over the place. No, wait. We were exhausted. Yes, that’s a better descrip- tion. Eggzosted. Most of our belongings, we trashed; we felt like we had been pistol whipped, and from lack of circulation, my feet swelled to the size of watermelons...and this time I’m not exaggerat- ing, honest. My feet looked hideous, abnor- mal. | felt like the Elephant Man’s wife. “I am not...an animal.” And they're still sore. They just won't deflate to their normal size. It looks like I’ve had sili- cone injected in my feet or something. I’m really cutting out a lot here, but if | told you guys absolutely everything, I'd have at least ten more pages of type. Susan and | get to the university’s resi- dence the next morning. (Oy.) Susan’s_ in Residence One, me, in Two. That's cool...all I’m concerned about is putting my Bozo the Clown feet up...on something...on any- thing. Just up. Off the floor. Off the pavement. Up. Opposite of down. Get it? Ahhhhh, that’s better. My feet were stinging. | think they were in shock. Well. Residence did- n’t work out for us. The people, the majority of them, were _ great. Especially Simone. She works in the housing office. What a wonder- ful, friendly person she is. | moved into Residence One shortly October 19, 1999 \dv ntures: The Trip To UNBC continues... after | arrived because | discovered that the floor | was on in Residence Two wasn’t the wellness floor, and I’m old (36). | need wellness. (I want my damn feet to get wellness too.) I loved my roommates in Residence One. Magali, Tasha and Kersten. Nice girls. But let’s face it...most of the students in residence are no older than what, nineteen, twenty? And that’s probably pushing it. It’s just the age thing for me, ya know? Plus, sleep deprivation was becoming an issue too. Susan and | found a two-bedroom apartment in town, on First Avenue. Our friend, Flo (who we met at the uni- versity), drove us around to look at places. We saw the one we're in now, liked it and took it. Who cares if we don’t have any furni- ture? Who cares if we moved in with NUTHIN’. We don’t care. We're pioneers. Its getting there, slowly but surely. (Mostly slowly.) But | am grateful. Very much So. Susan and | are here to study for a degree in social work. It was easy for us to be able to come here. We're not married, we don’t have children, and we want- ed to go somewhere new and different. And so many people have helped us tremendous- ly. Flo, Linda, Mie-Fang, Simone, Sandra, and others who work at the university in administra- tion. Amazing, extraor- dinary people. | know | speak for Susan too when | say...we couldn't thank you all enough. Thanks, y’all. Your kind- ness won't be forgotien, and it will come back to you, tenfold, because that’s how the universe works.