Bureaucracy: 2, Mark: 1
I've been motivated by fengi's " Comment month," whereby he will strive to comment on every single of his friends' LJ posts this month. Good idea, that. So, fengi, you can safely mark me down as a data point in your favor.
(And I like one of the comments. "Now I have this mental image of you straddling LiveJournal and pounding its sternum with both fists while yelling ``LIVE, damn you, LIVE!''")
I have a lot to share, but I'll do so piecemeal ... one entry at a time. I'm hoping that tactic increases the likelihood that I will write more here. (And that I can, in turn, harness some productive writing momentum.)
Though I'd love to first share my thoughts on the last Game of Thrones episode, [GoT spoiler]The Red WeddingThe Rains of Castamere, I feel that I should more-or-less address recent events in chronological order. And that means relating an update regarding the bureacratic snafu in which I've been embroiled for years, and has finally come to a head. I can now state "Bureaucracy: 2, Mark: 1" as the school has, somewhat reluctantly, ruled mostly in my favor. Mostly. I now have until Spring '14 to finish my dissertation, which is somewhat stunning as my advisor and I had scaled back our request to include just this Fall. But, I'll take it.
("Mostly" in that really the clock should have been set to Fall '15 to be on par with the standard PhD timeline. This still bothers me, but it's moot in that I fully intend on finishing this Fall, anyway.)
Of course GMU couldn't let even this final act go without further screwups. They were supposed to mail the extension letter for me to sign. It never arrived. I made two attempts to show up in person to sign same --- I had to return for a second visit because on the first attempt the person that said they'd be there was in a meeting. And, even then, I laughed aloud when I saw they had misspelled my name. I signed the damned thing anyway and asked for a photocopy, on the spot. Damn skippy that was going into my personal records.
This is an immense relief to have this behind me. Ironically, by giving me until the Spring to wrap up the degree they've likely increased the chances of me finishing this Fall since I no longer will be obsessing over this imbroglio. It is a little easier to concentrate when one doesn't have a Sword of Damocles swinging overhead.
(And I like one of the comments. "Now I have this mental image of you straddling LiveJournal and pounding its sternum with both fists while yelling ``LIVE, damn you, LIVE!''")
I have a lot to share, but I'll do so piecemeal ... one entry at a time. I'm hoping that tactic increases the likelihood that I will write more here. (And that I can, in turn, harness some productive writing momentum.)
Though I'd love to first share my thoughts on the last Game of Thrones episode, [GoT spoiler]The Red WeddingThe Rains of Castamere, I feel that I should more-or-less address recent events in chronological order. And that means relating an update regarding the bureacratic snafu in which I've been embroiled for years, and has finally come to a head. I can now state "Bureaucracy: 2, Mark: 1" as the school has, somewhat reluctantly, ruled mostly in my favor. Mostly. I now have until Spring '14 to finish my dissertation, which is somewhat stunning as my advisor and I had scaled back our request to include just this Fall. But, I'll take it.
("Mostly" in that really the clock should have been set to Fall '15 to be on par with the standard PhD timeline. This still bothers me, but it's moot in that I fully intend on finishing this Fall, anyway.)
Of course GMU couldn't let even this final act go without further screwups. They were supposed to mail the extension letter for me to sign. It never arrived. I made two attempts to show up in person to sign same --- I had to return for a second visit because on the first attempt the person that said they'd be there was in a meeting. And, even then, I laughed aloud when I saw they had misspelled my name. I signed the damned thing anyway and asked for a photocopy, on the spot. Damn skippy that was going into my personal records.
This is an immense relief to have this behind me. Ironically, by giving me until the Spring to wrap up the degree they've likely increased the chances of me finishing this Fall since I no longer will be obsessing over this imbroglio. It is a little easier to concentrate when one doesn't have a Sword of Damocles swinging overhead.