So, my packing has stalled. Since the workshop I was going to attend in June got cancelled, I've got a full week after my parents leave now in which to finish my packing. Of course, this means I have more time on my hands now during which I've been mostly just puttering around the apartment, watching tv and such. It's not a bad thing, but I am ( Read more... )

 Damn, it's expensive to get a PhD. And I'm not talking tuition, even though, yeah, that was expensive too. But the act of graduating is expensive. I had to pay at the beginning of the semester to apply for my degree. A month ago, I dropped off money to rent my robe to graduate. I stopped by the school today to drop of checks for dissertation ( Read more... )

I  caved yesterday and turned on the ac in my apartment full time. There's just no way to beat 100 degree heat without it. Good bye $35 gas and electric bills ( Read more... )

I found out a couple of days ago that my resume didn't make it through what I'm guessing was the first round of cuts with the Army. Well, that was expected. Yesterday I applied for a couple of government jobs in the DC area. I almost applied for a Navy job posting, but they were talking too much about biostatistics for my comfort. I also applied ( Read more... )

I've got my movers all set to bring all my stuff back to NJ. I turned in my 30-day notice to the apartment manager. My last day in Fresno will be June 13 (and it's a Friday, how fitting), unless the movers show up on the 11th and I'm able to move up the final walkthrough. Either way, I'll be back in NJ by around the 18th of June.

 All I've got to say is, wow, I'm glad I'm not as much of a pack rat as my grandmother ( Read more... )

Today's the last full day of my trip with my cousin. We've mostly relaxed, but we did some other fun stuff too. I took her to Korbel, we had lunch there and then did some champagne tasting. We also went to the tasting room for Kendall-Jackson. We took a day trip down to San Francisco and walked up and down Pier 39,ate at the Hard Rock Cafe, and ( Read more... )

I'm spending a few days with my parents in Napa and Sonoma. This was probably my last chance to get up here, and being that I hadn't made it yet, I was really intent on getting here at least once.  We went to a small winery the first day, called Van Der Heyden, which was quaint, and the people there were nice and informative.  We bought a bottle of ( Read more... )

At another station, a stylist was finishing up a 90-year-old woman's haircut:

Stylist: You'll knock 'em dead, Mary!
Mary: I don't want to knock anyone dead... that's murder.

I found a website which lists openings in U.S. government jobs, and found some pretty interesting jobs there. One, was working for some part of the justice department, doing empirical and legal research. But, it only required a bachelors, and therefore didn't really pay well. I found another one though that looks interesting, which I applied for. ( Read more... )