NothingButTheRain

I never encountered anywhere close to that level of scrutiny when crossing the border in either direction. I would expect to be pulled into secondary for a search, and as long as you can explain what's in each bag/box/etc, I wouldn't worry too much about it (though labeling boxes may help you out).

Keurig with reloadable cups; paying 50 cents a cup seems like a waste when you can roll your own.

You do realize 38B is Civil Affairs, not Public Affairs (46Q), right? The two are usually synchronized, but are far from the same field.

I'm not sure how many eligible men you'd find in the engineering department... Signed, An engineer married to a teacher. In all seriousness though... at least ask him for coffee. It'll accomplish two things - you'll get to know him better, answering the questions from post #22, and you'll be able to approach the whole idea of seeing each other more directly. (another reason to take 33 1/3's advice of avoiding a "research" pretext). Men are dense (trust me, I am one). As you've noticed, hints will not work, especially for someone who is shy (and may be less inclined to seek the answer to what may be a misread signal).

Any surrounding towns 10-15 minutes away in the direction of the city? That might get you away from the town enough to take the smell away, make a trip to the city shorter, and leave you with the flexibility to come/go from your PhD as needed...

I don't really have a basis to answer your question, but it might help if you described the commute. Is it 60 miles on the highway, 30 miles on back roads, is public transit available, etc? Just a thought that may help your decision.

Google the following companies: Tracfone, Virgin Mobile, AT&T pay as you go. Also "pre paid phones", or "pay as you go phones" That will get you started. I know Walmart has entire displays with multiple brands. I had tracfone as an emergency cell when bicycling. It was very easy:simply buy cards at Walmart or similar store -even gas stations - and enter the codes into the phone to use them. However I don't know how capable they are regarding data. I had mine back in 2006ish, and only needed the ability to make a ten-minute phone call. I don't know where their tech stands today, but I would look into them.

I'be had nothing but good experience with Verizon. Good coverage and customer service. If you need a temp phone, you could always consider a pay as you go phone (a la tracphone)... Might be less expensive than the sim card.

Given your time frame, I would get my hands on as many practice tests/questions as feasible. Identify your weaknesses, hammer them out, rinse and repeat until confident. One of the worst feelings on a math test is seeing a question type that you've had limited exposure to. I used Princeton Review for mine, and did fairly well; I didn't notice a significant shift in the difficulty of the questions between the PR book and the GRE itself. That said, I've seen quite a few others comment that they did, so take that with a grain of salt. Your mileage may vary; best of luck.

That's part of why I routinely attempt to go without caffeine for extended periods. It would be very easy for me to fall into the point of requiring it to function. Last week was especially bad. Maybe you could try reducing the concentration of caffeine in the pot trying to gradually work it down (ie, 3/4 regular, 1/4 decaf)?