Do you remember, part deux

So, here's more of what I remember:

Dave and I actually first met on the orientation weekend before our freshman year. We both stayed in Sol I believe, maybe the 5th floor. A bunch of us sort of hung out that weekend, trying to find our way around. There was this girl in that group named "Marney", which is how Dave and I figured out much later that we were hanging out together that weekend (but didn't know it).

I mentioned the 5th floor of Sol above because I think that's where Nate shot the infamous "sticks to your face" video, from atop the deck on our floor in freshman year, Sol 6.

I am trying to remember exactly how Dave and I formally met - I am thinking perhaps it was either in our Math Mom's class (calc 1), or at IV. Dave and I joked around because the professor could never get our names right. When I say "never", it might have only been once or twice, but from then on, we just assumed she couldn't ever remember our names. Dave was "Don", and I was Matt Genesee. But in all fairness, I phonetically slaughtered Dave's last name several times initially, until he got it through my head that his name was not "Vahgler". A couple deep-voiced "Vogler"s got the point across.

I am quite sure I met Matt through Melissa at IV. I don't remember too much, except that there was some confusion afterwards as to which "Matt" people were speaking about. Therefore, there was "Matt with the hair" (Wilber) and "Matt with the hat" (me). Dave was also referred to as "floppy hair Dave", which dates back to some early haircuts. (Sorry Dave if that's TMI - I'm just spilling out what I remember.) Of course, Nate already interjected how he and I met. We met at the movies, discovered we were neighbors, and in the midst of terrible freshman overcrowding, two pledges who happened to be roommates in Sol 6020 wanted to move into Phi Delta Theta, and Nate and I desperately wanted OUT of the frat. So one night, using a shopping cart (as I recall), we played musical rooms. Good thing we didn't have much stuff at the time. I was glad to get out of the frat - I didn't need to see any more ramifications of overnight swirlys given to overweight brothers, and I didn't really enjoy the perpetu-stickyness of the frat's hallway floor thanks to spilled beer and who knows what else.

I don't remember you being pantless the first time I met you, Kris ;-) But I do remember Nate and I came up with a similar policy of knocking first before entering. I remember adrenaline-induced mad dashes for the "closet" part of the dorm room to put something on that was more presentable the split second before the door flung open with a possible visitor.

I remember the Corner Store at the bottom of Sol. And Nate's restaurant, in hot pink paint. And doing laundry while wearing shorts in the nice warm tunnels while the winter winds were frightful. And I remember hoarding quarters like they were little pieces of gold.

I remember popcorn-induced fire alarms in the winter, and yet, how pretty Ellingston was from a distance when all the rooms' strobes were flashing. And it was pretty because it wasn't me who was briefly homeless thanks to an unattended microwave.

I also remember that fateful night when the fire alarm went off in Sol, and Nate had to wake me up, and quite confused I sat up on my bunkbed, opened my eyes, and was immediately blinded by the strobe right next to my head. To this day, I still do not know how I subsequently dressed myself to go outdoors when I couldn't see anything but the imprint of that strobe flash on my retina.

I remember the strips of film hanging off Nate's bed, taped up with masking tape. And Nate's 386 craptop on the desk below his bed. And my 486 Compaq beast with deluxe amber monitor was on my desk....the same beast that later had caused my back to be thrown out when I tried to move it somewhere else in the room. That was also the night that Jenn had to take me to the hospital, and I got a bunch of vicadin, which made me immobile, and Jenn somehow managed to carry me back to Fish-A so I could lay down in my drug-induced stouper.

I remember Nate walking into our dorm room, and after a very very long day of non-stop classes, he just fell onto the floor, saying "ahhhhhhh!!!!" all the way down. And with masking tape in hand, I had a great idea. So that night, I made a tape-outline of his body on the floor, which became the infamous body-trace on our floor that everyone commented on. Unfortunately, it turned out that removing the masking tape at the end of the year left a bit of a residue, and the rug became noticably discolored, and we ended up paying a bit for that repair. I guess that's fair, as new students in that room might wonder what type of criminal activity had transpired.

I also remember that we couldn't leave any holes in our dorm room walls before inspection, which meant the holes left from anything that was hung during the school year had to be filled in. I also remember that toothpaste made a great spackle, and also left the walls minty fresh.

I remember Nate sitting up while I was doing homework on my computer, and he'd say weird things, and I'd have to tell him to go back to sleep. One night in particular, there were sirens in the distance, and that was enough to wake him up. He sat up, looked around sort of confused. I looked back at him and said "it's ok, go back to bed.".....when he replied "Oh no, nuclear fallout! Ahhhh!!!!", and he promptly fell back asleep.

I remember walking into our dorm room in mid-winter, and flinging our dorm room's uni-window open because it was too damn hot. And I remember Nate walking into our room and flinging the window closed because it was too damn cold. Somehow, neither of us completely froze or melted that whole winter.

I remember meeting Karen for the first time at a Bible study in our Freshman year. And during the "go around an introduce yourself" phase, I learned that she was from the Philadelpha area and lived not to far from where I had once lived, and also that her name was Laura. I mixed up her name with her sister's name (who she mentioned during her intro), so later on when Nate started mentioning this girl "Karen" to me, I had no idea who he was talking about. When he finally pointed her out to me, I was thinking "but, wait....that's Laura."

I remember going to work at Ross MicroLab (RML) with chocolate syrup on my stomach, which I had to hurriedly clean off in the bathroom in Ross bldg. before I started my proctor shift. Of course, my tummy was covered in syrup as part of Nate's film, as it was supposed to be blood, which is apparently indistinguishable in b&w. However, it turns out the smell of Hershey's syrup really can't be wiped away with paper towels in a bathroom.

I also remember being filmed while asleep on a cot in a bldg. 7 studio for that same movie.

I remember Bill Schmertz. I always knew he was a freshman packaging science major because it was written right there on his business card. He was a good guy.

I remember the Blues Brothers of Sol 6.

And "Please pass the milk, please."

And "Now I am the master!"

And juggling.

And daily whiteboard modifications on our Fish-A dorm doors. "Have a."

And seeing Kris's art projects that I thought were so cool. Espeically that one made out of wooden sticks in our freshman year. I knew right there she was a great artist.

I remember Dave went on the solar race in our freshman year, and got sick, and I felt so bad for him. Apparently at one point he had to stick his head out the window of the truck and......lose his cookies. I remember learning that when Dave is sick, he is sick.

I remember getting up too early to register for classes at a lone vax terminal in Ellingston or at the Registrar's office. The atmosphere was akin to being in an airport or in line for concert tickets: nobody wanted to be there, but given we had to be, we all might as well get on like we're old friends. I remember when the vax terminal finally connected to the registration system, word spread like wildfire through all the lines in building 1, and everyone who camped on the floor woke up. I also remember that the days of registration caused the campus telephone system to be overload, and sometimes it took a whole minute for me to get a dial tone.

I remember Ethan, and that we all basically thought, "this is really an all-around great guy," and we became instant friends. I remember moving out of Fish-A to room with him in 237-C. I was the first to move out of the dorms, into the "big person" on-campus apartments, and was kind of scared about the change...that I wouldn't get to see my friends anymore because I was 'so far away.' But nothing changed. He welcomed me with a desk made of 2x4's, and a Mac that talked, and lots of cow art. And I made a great new friend. I remember he hung a thick piece of carpet on the wall, and when I asked what that was for, he showed me his bb-pistol for indoor target practice. I knew I would be right at home. And I remember being worried about Matt & Dave getting a Perkins apartment in the "lottery", and I was so relieved when they got one so close to 237.

I remember Jenn. I remember meeting her at IV in my sophomore year, and subsequently in the RITreat, I tripped over a chair while talking to her and nearly fell down, and she cracked up. I remember not dunking her head in the water fountain outside the 1829 room in the SAU when she got a drink. I remember Jenn not reciprocating the favor. I remember thinking she was a freshman, and that I might need to step into the role of "showing her the ropes" of college life; but a little later on, I found out she was actually older than me and almost graduated. Whoopsie.

I remember Matt W. and being enthralled that he was as interested in computers as I was, and that I had found a good friend. I remember how excited he was to get his BusLogic SCSI card, and how excited I was for him.

I remember Heather was a Hotel and ....something major. I didn't quite understand what it was, but I knew she could organize the pants off Martha Stewart.

I remember my first co-op at Industrial Indexing Systems in Victor, and how pretty the drive was everyday. I realized that I'd love to live out there someday.

I remember that anything made at Creme de le Creme was worthing fighting for.

I remember long bike rides to Abbots Frozen Custard in Bushnell's Basin. It took all day to get the custard prize, but it was worth it, even on the long ride back home.

I remember biking when it was way too cold out, but it was so much faster than taking the RIT buses. I remember arriving at class out of breath, with white knuckles, and fogged up glasses....but at least I was on-time.

I remember all-day hikes on autumn Saturdays at Letchworth, and eating at the "Brown Beer." I remember long afternoons at Mendon Ponds, and watching in amazement as birds and squirrels ate birdseed out of my hand. I still think that forest is enchanted.

I remember grocery shopping at Wegmans, which was as much fun as going to an amusement park. I remember Bruce drove us to Weggies once and there were no parking spots to be found, and he asked if I would drive his car around the lot and then pull up when they got back out. And I also realized that driving a car that has a manual transmission is nothing like driving a minibike that has a manual clutch. I made it once around the parking lot, in 20 ft. increments, with stalls in between. I pulled up to the front of Wegmans and stopped the car with a final stall to pick them up, and they would have never known the difference unless I told them afterwards, which I did.

I remember Jay's Diner, the way it was. And scouting campus for those little books with all the coupons in them for local eateries, like Jays. I often came home with a backpack full of those books, and coupons that lasted me the year. And Jenn and I ate there as often as we could, and enjoyed the company of "our" waitress Pauline. I remember being told by a non-Pauline waitress that I could not order lasagna with a side of french fries. "Why not? Go get Pauline."

And I remember owning the first microwave ever invented, thanks to George DelVeccio, and feeling safer when I left the room once it was in use. And a dishwasher that Dave & Matt found/inherited, which worked great, except that one time it didn't and the kitchen floor was kinda flooded.

And taking the doors off all the cupboards in the kitchen at 249-B Perkins. It just made sense.

And going on midnight bikerides across campus, and seeing new trails, and coming back all muddy....and us putting the bikes in the shower.

And visiting IV folks at "the ranch" at Raquetclub - Colin, Chip, Blake, etc. It was like a whole other world. I remember watching in awe as Colin rode his homemade "sled" down the stairs of their Raquetclub apartment and slid right out the door into the snow. I remember thinking, "Where am I?"

What a dream we lived in for 4 or 5 years. I'm so glad I was along for the ride.