Neist

What day of the week will you show up? DMV busy-ness varies greatly by city, but I'd avoid any DMV on Saturday, if possible. Besides, State College isn't too huge. It might not be very crowded. I find DMVs (at least in the US) to be similar Post Offices, the bigger the city, the more unpleasant they become.

Eh, it's fine. Most people will care little if you add an extra 'u' here or there, or refer to 'z' as zed. Canadians share a lot of UK English practices, so it's not terribly uncommon, I think.

If you like the format of Serial, but you don't necessarily require that it's factual, I highly recommend Tanis, The Black Tapes, The Message, and Limetown. They are docudramas, like Serial, but they are fictional docudramas. I'm a huge fan of this emerging genre. If you want something non-fictional and possibly true crime or mystery related, you might look into Real Crime Profile, Criminal, Unresolved, Sword and Scale (fair warning with this one, it can be disturbing), and Astonishing Legends. As for Invisibilia, that's a little bit more difficult. but you might look into Radio Lab, Mystery Show, The Specialist, The Memory Palace, 99% Invisible, Freakonomics, Lore (which is getting turned into a TV show, apparently), Imaginary Worlds, and a Life Well Wasted (this one hasn't been updated in ages, but the episodes are very good). There's aren't necessarily exactly like Invisibilia, but I think they tickle the same part of the brain. Let me know if you want any other suggestions.

As someone who's moved an apartment of furniture by himself before, this is so very true. Moving something like a mattress with two people isn't too horrid, but moving it by oneself is terrible. Or a couch. Or a desk. Or even the box of a desk before you build it in your apartment. Also, did you do the 14 hours in one go? That's quite a grind!

I am a podcast connoisseur. I've listened to tens of thousands of them. What sort of podcasts do you like?

Those of us who are going to get degrees in disciplines that only typically demand MAs are pretty lucky, I think.

I'm a bit iffy right now about a PhD as well. I might pursue one, but I might not. I think I'm just going to apply to a round of jobs and the best PhD programs I can when I'm about to graduate, and let the cards fall where they may. Either way, I'm not going to pursue a PhD unless its in a program that is absolutely perfect for me. I'm guessing museum work is a lot like library work? In libraries, a PhD is largely unnecessary. Although I have considered getting a PhD in information science because it does align with my interests and it's probably far more lucrative of a degree.

See, I graduated with something like 215 credit hours. I cannot raise nor lower my GPA, really. I don't think it matters much, as long as you can get into a graduate program. I knew a microbiology graduate student who had to take organic chemistry three times because he was required to make at least a B in it for his major. He still managed to get into graduate school.

I'm a guy, so I'm not used to the oft rude behavior of men, and even I find this... suspicious. I definitely agree with @Need Coffee in an IV. I'd start documenting things.

Eh, GPA is sort of finicky anyway. A person could take easy courses and breeze through with a 4.0, so it's hardly a measure of effort. A lot of my lower grades were in classes that I probably shouldn't have taken, but they sounded interesting, so... Time's really flying by, isn't it? It seems like it's only been a week since late February, when a lot of results were pouring out.

Congrats! I bet it's relieving to have the moving process over. Unfortunately, I'm one of those odd people who never remembers any dreams. I might recall one dream over the course of 4-5 months.

You know, I think that, too. However, after grading papers in a history course this semester, I realize that high marks are more rare because people are terrible, terrible writers. I don't even consider myself a good writer, yet after grading essays this semester, I've read perhaps two out of 100 that I would consider passable by my standards (essays I would expect to get A's on if I wrote them). A good or nearly perfect essay is a paper that is easily imagined. It's a paper that is clear, artfully argues its points, and is efficient communicating that argument. It's a requires the skillful combination of sources; it's closer to a puzzle than writing. The perfect essay is one that manages incorporate multiple parts together in an easy-to-read shell. And if that ideal exists, then it's possible to strive for it. I sort of think good writing is a dying craft. One of the reasons I initially decided to pursue a PhD is because most of the sources I read are horrendous. I want to write sources that are actually enjoyable to read.

Okay, okay.. I'm grading the last bit of papers from this semester, and I'm going to pull my hair out. When I'm given a bit more authority this fall as an official graduate TA, I'm going to metaphorically slap some of these students. No, you can't write your paper in Arial. No, you can't write it at size 13 font (I notice!). No, you cannot insert an inch of blank space after the title of the paper to arbitrarily fulfill paper length requirements, or for that matter, microscopically increase leading to do the same. I worked as a graphic designer, and I notice minute fluctuations in leading. Stop trying to cheat, students. I hope there's a word count limit instead of a page range limit in the next course I TA for. Oh man, this person used run-ons for half of the sentences. I seriously think this person was wasted when they wrote this paper.

Thanks! I've gotten only one B in a history course. I'm not a brilliant student, but I'm tenacious with my studies. History courses are courses in which one can reliably do better with more effort. You can continually polish a paper, but once you take a test, it's over. I'll work 30 hours on a 6 page paper in order to make it perfect, but no matter how much I study for a Spanish test, I still might get a low B. I think I'm a bad test-taker. I'm not sure how history courses are at other universities, but undergrad courses here almost always have a component that's nearly exclusively awarded through effort and preparation, not performance (such as discussion participation). The rest of the grade in the course will be through papers, but as I've implied, I aim for 100% on my papers, not simply good marks. I know it's silly, but it's just the way I am. My capstone adviser is British, and I got at vague jist of the UK system through him. It does seem quite a bit different! However, as noted above, history course assignments are "polishable," and I spend an excessive amount of time doing so. I've actually gotten close to 100% in history courses when the class average is probably a B, for no other reason than because I put in five times the effort (the near 100% 3-credit-hour course probably demanded 20 hours a week; I reread the entire course materials three times). That specific professor would fully-critique papers if you put in the effort, and I did so with every assignment. Most students were too lazy to do it because she only provided the prompt a week or so in advance. In order to receive a critique or two, you had to instantly write the paper, a week or more before it was due. I'm living proof that effort can overcome mediocrity.

You might peruse their website. http://www.williams-sonoma.com/ As per kettles, if you're talking electric ones, I highly recommend a Bonavita. They aren't too expensive, and they're quite nice. I use mine for all my tea, from expensive loose tea to cheapo herbal bags.

It's all good! I wasn't expecting an A, to be honest. The point breakdown for the course is constructed in such a way that even though I received a 85-95% on the vast majority of my work, and 100% on my homework (which is 10% of the total grade), I still only managed a mid-high B. Nutty, right? If I managed a B average, you'd think the homework would carry me to an A, but nope. I don't really care at this point as I've already been accepted into a program with full funding, and they don't care if I get a B in a foreign language. I've gotten straight A's in every class over the last three years except for Spanish. My major GPA is something like a 3.98.

I had actually considered this before concerning those here relocating. Moving a kitchen is quite a hassle, and I doubt I'd want to bring much over if I was traveling abroad. Do you have Williams Sonoma in the UK? It's a very expensive kitchen gear store, but they sell amazing-quality gear (to an extent that is laughably unnecessary). I bought my cake pans there, and they're probably three times as thick as they need to be, but they'll likely last a lifetime. If you've never been to one, you should totally visit once you move stateside. It's the type of place where one can buy a $200 toaster.

That's a pretty honest mistake, I think. Peanut butter is one of those ingredients that can vary significantly between brands. Wonder if it had something to do with the oil used? Might have used an oil with a really low smoke point. Also, this is a strangely nerdy discussion, even for these boards.

Eh, we all make mistakes. I'm a trained pastry chef, and even I do stupid mistakes occasionally. I don't think I've ever smelled burnt peanut butter. For that matter, what were you doing that burnt peanut butter? Grilled PB sandwich? Some sort of sauce? I'm curious!

Ever heard of the TV show "Worst Cooks in America"? In one of the seasons, someone tried sear cheese. Cheese. You can't be that bad, and everyone makes mistakes.

I say the only treat worth treating oneself too is booze. At least you tried something new. That's pretty brave!

Congrats! I just got my final grades back from Spanish. Ugh. I got a B. Oh well. Spanish courses at my university are structured in such a way where it's almost nigh-impossible to get an A in them.

Yup, I'm pretty excited. It also means I'll have more time for reading. Because I work full time, my reading time is limited. I know I'll be reading a ton for school, but I like the sort of reading I'll be doing, so it's win/win, really.

Welp, I took the last test of my undergrad. There's nothing betwixt (just because I can use it) me and graduate school now! Now begins the task of preparation.

Magoosh, perhaps? It's going to take a lot of studying, either way. Good luck!