Weekend Plans: Getting Ready For College

Jaybird

Jaybird is Birdmojo on Xbox Live and Jaybirdmojo on Playstation's network. He's been playing consoles since the Atari 2600 and it was Zork that taught him how to touch-type. If you've got a song for Wednesday, a commercial for Saturday, a recommendation for Tuesday, an essay for Monday, or, heck, just a handful a questions, fire off an email to AskJaybird-at-gmail.com

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8 Responses

  1. Jaybird says:

    Report

  2. Michael Cain says:

    I still remember the morning sometime during my first couple of weeks as an undergraduate, walking to the door of dorm, picking my way through the crowd of people looking uncomfortably out at the rain, and popping open my collapsible umbrella.Report

  3. Fish says:

    There’s a significant amount of overlap between “college dorm” and “military dorm” life. The things I found most useful were dishes–not a whole set, but like a single place-setting, and cookware that facilitates making things like macaroni and cheese in the microwave. A big towel is good. Money is always good. The kettle will be fantastic until his rope…er…dorm chief…er…RA(?) confiscates it because small appliances are a no-no (but give it to him anyway). If he doesn’t already have one, a good messenger bag suitable for protecting a notebook computer (granted, not really a dorm room item, but whatevs). A first-aid kit. A good UL-rated power strip with a long cord.Report

    • Jaybird in reply to Fish says:

      A power strip, messenger bag, and umbrella.

      Brilliant.Report

      • Michael Cain in reply to Jaybird says:

        A small tool kit. I’d recommend jewelers’ screwdrivers, a bicycle multitool (easy way to get regular screwdrivers and hex keys), two pair of hemostats (one straight, one curved), tweezers, small locking pliers, single-edge razor blades and a holder for the blades. I don’t know what they (or their roommate, or someone in the next room) will need to fix, just that they will need to fix something.

        If they’re taking a bike and planning to use it, add a spare tube of appropriate size, instant tire patches, a tiny pump, a few chain links (ask discretely about size first, although 9-speed is probably a safe bet), and a roll of black electrical tape. (And a spoke wrench if you want them to think you’re a secret bicycle geek.) One of my 15 minutes of dorm fame was after I got hugged and kissed by the cute blond because I could fix her broken chain today, not tomorrow. Over the years, I’ve given away a lot more chain links than I’ve needed myself.Report

  4. Jaybird says:

    Called mom: He’s taking a microwave with him. So the kettle probably won’t be necessary. (I mean, it will be. But he won’t know that until after the semester.)

    So here’s the list:
    Small toolkit.
    High-quality power strip.
    Really big fluffy towel.
    Umbrella.

    Mom doesn’t know if he’s taking his bike with him. If he is, the kit’s something I can slip to him before he leaves NEXT MONTH. Jeez.Report

    • Jaybird in reply to Jaybird says:

      Also picked up a Frisbee, Yahtzee kit, and Uno deck.

      For cooking stuff, I got him a specialized microwave ramen dish and a specialized microwave soup bowl. A couple of forks and a couple of spoons and they had weird electrolized rainbow coloring which, it seems to me, could be used by him to say “no, that’s *MY* fork”.

      And he is taking his bike.Report