Maleficent999

Yeah, I think i bought my white Civic in August 2011. She's got less than 30k miles on her, but she doesn't have a name. Maybe I should name her? I don't normally name cars haha

I bought a 2012 honda civic new back in 2012 (duh). I was able to put a lot down so my payment is pretty small for a car payment. It'll be paid off the summer after my second year in grad school. I wanted a honda civic because they're known to last for years if you take care of them, it gets great mileage, and maintenance is really cheap compared to other brands. I didn't buy it with grad school in mind but it is a practical car so I'm happy with it.

I say grad student in casual conversation and then I'll correct people if they incorrectly assume that means I'm working on my Master's. I've had people argue with me about what degree I'm working toward. Even people in Master's programs don't seem to understand how I could be in a PhD program without completing a Master's degree first.

I've started watching Extreme Cheapskates and picking up some habits I think aren't too crazy such as saving the condiment packets from restaurants. It isn't exactly to save money but it does have that effect: I've started washing my hair only ever 3 days, so about twice a week. It's actually much better for your hair and scalp and it saves me tons on shampoo and conditioner since I go through it less quickly. I also save a lot of laundry up for visits home to my parents. If I know I'm visiting home I'll stretch my wardrobe as thin as I can and then do 5+ loads for free.

At my school, students are given a list of courses and we have to rank our top 6 out of the classes that don't conflict with our schedules. We are required to have at least 3 courses in our top 6 be lower division. However, I was sent a mass email that leads me to believe professors also rank TAs as the poster above mentioned. My question is: as a first year, how the heck are professors supposed to rank first years when they haven't even met us? I'm guessing I'll be stuck with the leftovers.

I'm looking into that currently. It looks like I might qualify in the California county where I'll be going to school but I need to be living there at least a month before I can provide proof of expenses and such like CalFresh requires. Has anyone on here in California had success doing this?

I'm looking at a few armless chairs at ikea. There isn't one near me now but there is in my new city so I'm going to go test them out in store once I move. If you're near one id check there. Decent prices too.

I'm an alumni of cal poly slo (not ee though) but I can tell you cal poly slo is one of the best schools in the country for engineering programs. They were named best in the west and have been awarded tons of other awards for their engineering degrees. I also have 5+ friends with engineering degrees from there and all of them either had several job offers or were accepted into graduate programs. Either school is a good choice but personally, I would go with slo. It doesn't matter much but I prefer that part of California as well. The weather is literally perfect.

Juillet, is it goodreader 4?

I can function on 5-6 hours of sleep if I'm working out regularly. It seems sort of counter-intuitive, but once my body starts working more efficiently I find I can sleep a bit less and still have enough energy. Strangely, if I sleep more than 8 hours I feel like I have a hangover all day. I'm a morning person so on weekends I'm still usually asleep by 12 at the latest and up by 7 or 8 even if I don't set an alarm. 9AM-4PM are my favorite hours of the day to do productive things and still be happy about it. If I'm working on an assignment due Friday at 10AM anytime past Thursday at 4PM I feel really stressed and panicked and end up not being very efficient. This isn't very healthy I realize, but I have some anxiety issues (obviously) so I just do my best to avoid those situations. Thankfully I'm really good with time management so far in my life. Hopefully I can continue it in grad school. For instance, I figure out due dates and test dates at the beginning of the quarter and write them all in my planner. If I realize I have one or two weeks with a lot of deadlines, I try to figure out the weeks I'll have a lighter load beforehand and do one or two of the projects early--even if it's 3-4 weeks early--just so I can check it off my list. Sometimes that isn't possible because we won't learn the material until a week or two before the assignment is due or the test date. At that point I'll do as much as I can but still try to finish it early rather than at the last minute. Especially if I have several exams, I'd rather be studying during the week than working on a paper I could've finished over the weekend prior.

I love mint. I have it on my phone too. It's super helpful for tax purposes and budgeting.

I'm working until about a week before I move but on the weekends I plan to make as many little road trips as I can and enjoy my Xbox before I breakup with her. I'll also do some reading and hang out with my family and new baby niece.

I wrote out an entire long explanation for why I have a problem with that phrase, but to be honest, I'm really non-confrontational and I don't want to hijack the thread or start a "geek" war. But I do think you didn't quite pick up on the dramatic humor I was going for in my last post. I was being 70% silly and 30% serious.

I don't understand why "geek culture" is even a phrase. I like what I like and that just happens to be medieval, fantasy, and historical fiction-themed video games. I also go to punk shows and watch the occasional reality TV show. JUST TRY AND DEFINE ME. Cleokatra out.

I'm a khajiit. My name is cleokatra (but seriously, I am and it is).

Most of my close friends and family knew that I was applying but when I got accepted I sent texts to those people along the lines of, "I got into ______!!!" And then after I had decided on a school I posted on Facebook and thanked everyone for their support. I also wrote personalized thank you letters to the professors that wrote me letters of rec and let them know where I'll be going.

RE: gnomechomsky I know a lot of tattooed people and I have spent a lot of time at conventions. The only people I see with facial tattoos are professional tattoo artists and artists of other types (models, musicians, etc.). Although I disagree with your reasoning, I think you probably won't have to worry about making that decision.

The bank that holds my loans says that the school where I'm starting in the Fall automatically transmits enrollments to them and that I don't have to do anything to defer my loans. However, I'm not entirely sure if I believe that so I'll be calling at some point soon.

Personally, I'm heavily-tattooed but I can easily cover up in a professional setting. I have other heavily-tattooed friends and I think it still looks professional when they dress up even if their tattoos are visible. Like the poster above said, if you kick it up a notch to offset any unprofessional perceptions I think you should be fine with colored hair. I'm considering going back to having pink or purple hair like I did for the first bit of undergrad. It made me feel like a superhero haha

This doesn't sound bizarre to me at all. My research interests focus largely around bdsm and the kink scene. When "kinksters" interact in an intense scene, usually a scene between a Dom and sub, the sub can often experience "sub drop". The Dom can experience a drop too but it is less talked about. Stay with me here, when the sub comes down from such an intense high/emotional/extreme place they can very easily fall into a kind of depression. Experienced kinksters know that aftercare is an important part of a D/s scene. Aftercare means both physical, mental, and emotional care so that the drop isn't too intense and damaging. I think you're experiencing a kind of drop like this. Maybe, grad drop? Haha but seriously, you're coming down from a very intense place. It's important you take care of yourself. That might mean taking a few days to process everything and just chill out. It might mean talking to loved ones or doing some fun things you've been missing, maybe all of the above. Just my $.02. I'm no expert but I definitely don't think what you're feeling is out of bounds.

My school is on the quarter system so they don't have summer break for a few more weeks :-/ but I'll prod again soon. Should I be concerned I was assigned someone that I've never met or seem to have any shared interests with? It's just for the first year and then I can choose my own major advisor but I feel like the first year is important and it would've been nice to have someone that's on the same page as I am.

I was assigned a first year advisor whom I've never met or even had any email correspondence. I'm a little confused, to be honest. I emailed her a week ago to introduce myself and still silence. Definitely worrying.

I attended undergrad in San Luis Obispo and it's also one of the safest cities. I've heard of Davis and SLO being compared to each other.

^ I want to upvote your post a hundred times.

I'm not really familiar with the highways or streets yet. I just know the 99 because that's how I got to Sac haha. But basically I got on the 113 near UC Davis and traffic was backed up all the way from where the 113 turns into the 80 all the way into west sac. It cleared up once I got past west sac.