sjoh197

^^^ Hey it's Dr. Clayton Forrester lol

Could be that you picked programs that are struggling with funding right now.... or picked POI's whose interests didn't match up with your's as well as you thought. Or you could have come across the wrong way in you SOP's. And your GRE score certainly isn't helping. Did you end up retaking it, or is it still the 145, 145?

A tip to those driving long haul who typically don't.... Quick dry workout clothes are your friend. Obviously not the confining underclothes... Just the outerwear. It's breathable and doesn't get sticky in the car... Especially if you have leather/pleather.

Lol... I also eventually had to get a "diesel inside" bumper sticker because I have a little volkswagen beetle and I would literally have men run up to me at the pump saying "Nooooo that's diesel" as if I'm some kind of idiot, and I would be like "Yeah, I know. It's a diesel." The look on their face was always pretty priceless though.

Driving is hard. Last summer I had to do a field course that was a lovely 20 hour drive by map. In reality it was closer to 22 with gas stops, food stops, leg stretch stops. And I had to drive because of the amount of gear I had to bring. I drove straight through there. I still maintain one of most hilarious breakdown moments was on that trip. Driving through BFE oklahoma, it had been over an hour and a half since I had passed a gas station and I only had a quarter tank, so I stopped at the next gas station I saw... which was some super old trucker/ farm tractor gas station. So I pull up to the trucker pumps, which were off to the side, and I go up to the pump and then the machine says "Make diesel selection"? No, no... I just want regular diesel... like the regular stuff at the gas station... no selection. And then it says... "Reefer diesel... biodiesel... diesel 2,... etc." Since I don't know what kind I need, the machine times out and I have to swipe my card again. I do this 3 more times. My debit card is then declined. I have 1 bar of E cell signal... no internet,.. no one is inside and I don't know what kind of gas I need. And I've been driving for like 14 hours. Finally a nice trucker pulled through and I had to ask him what kind of diesel he was putting in his truck. Lol. So then I used my backup credit card (thank god I have one) and selected the one I needed.... then I took the pump off the handle... and there's no start button. Now I realize that there are people here who are either old enough, or grew up somewhere old enough that the gas pumps had the little handle that the pump sits on and you pull it to start the pump. I am neither that old... nor had I ever encountered a gas station that was old enough to not have digital pumps. At this point, I've been sitting at this gas station trying to get gas for over a half hour. On my 1 measly bar of crappy signal... I call my partner bawling my eyes out, barely able to make a coherent sentence... and of course the call dropped like 4 times. Thankfully, he is much more in tune with the world of non-digital gas pumps... a fact that he won't let me live down to this day. I later had to call my bank to explain that, Yes, it was indeed me swiping my card 5 times at the gas station without making a selection, and no, I wasn't involved in card fraud. Although, I did learn that day that apparently reefer fuel goes into refrigerator trucks.... so there is that.

Oh yes. I watched the commentary many years ago. I am ashamed to admit that between the 3 movies, I've seen each around 40-50 times. My mother was mortified that my father let me watch them every weekend, because she was all "Jesus-ey" and wouldn't ever let me watch anything with any form of violence or non-Jesus-ey message.

I had a dream last night that the entire cast of LOTR was helping me plan a party and they all were dressed in character and only responded to their character names. It was one of the best dreams I think I've ever had.

I just meant if you look at the results for your programs in the past years, sometimes theres a pattern of late results. For example, the department I am waiting for has never had a result posted before next week. And they have historically responded in mid march and sometimes early april. So I am not concerned at all that I haven't heard, because it is normal for that department. On a different note... despite knowing that my program has never responded this early... it hasn't stopped me from checking the admissions portal every single day since Jan. 15th.

Lots of places with later deadlines have later acceptances. Have you checked the results page for your program yet?

If you are actually in Chicago.... being a big city, there is bound to be a massage school for cheap. We have a massage school here that does "teaching" deep swedish massage, 1 hour for $35.

I'm not a male... however, I know that my partner enjoys getting his hair cut with a nice hot shave and he would never say no to a deep tissue massage, hot oil scalp massage, and face rub. And afterwords some good eats at a sports bar or outdoor restaurant.

You pretty much wont find anything not super sketchy near the rail for that price. ( For comparison, the cheapest 2 bedroom in our complex is over $2000... there are no 3 beds in a lot of the places on the rail) You can find stuff "close" to rice... depending on you definition of close for that price if you room share. Not within walking distance though. Unless its like a rent house or a garage apartment. You can definintely find things in that price range if you either commute by car or a bus route. Or are just comfortable with a more lax security apartment. Theft and robbery are pretty rampant here which is why the security is a big deal to me. If you have a car or can commute, you can find some nice apartments between the bellaire and piney point village area.

Wow.... that's really sucky. I was kind of having a shitty week last week, but now, in perspective... it really wasn't that bad. I will be sending happy tea thoughts your way.

No real advice on the technical aspects of moving to the US... however, I will mention that the US is very very very diverse... sometimes in very close spaces. Many states/cities are incredibly unique, and sometimes you wouldn't even think you're in the same collective country. New York is massive, and has its own cultural realms... but if you have the opportunity to travel while you are here... do it. California is so much different than the east coast, or the mid-west cow country, or the deep south. Lots of variety. As for what You should do... just be friendly. There are so many cultural varieties here that at some point everyone will be offended by something, so there's no point in tip-toeing around what you do. Just be nice. Also... although New York is a little different because of the population density, most Americans are very aware of their personal space and they don't typically want strangers invading it. I don't know how that is in Israel, but many countries do not have the same definition or awareness of personal space.

lol

Houston has an eh rail system and a decent bus system. If you want to live near the rail... as in walk to the rail, not park and ride, you will be paying a pretty premium (We currently live on the rail). I would suggest staying west of 288, but that is my personal opinion. As someone stated above, the third ward isn't a particularly friendly place live. What kind of price options are you looking at? Because that will drastically change your options.

Finally 1 week away from the earliest posted results for my program.

I would not cancel again. Is there some way to move your other obligation?

I'm having one of those days where I realize that I moved to a city that I don't know and don't really like, have no friends here, no real hobbies here. Just nothing. And no job prospects because oil is down and out. This one grad school app is pretty much the only thing I'm holding out for at this point. I suspect it is going to be a depressing weekend.

Teressa pinned 1 of your pins. Spunky_Lady pinned 1 of your pins. Sandra Barnes pinned 1 of your pins. Kayla Jordan pinned 1 of your pins. God dammit pinterest, I understand that people like my pins... but I'm not interested right now.

In all of this you spent less than one sentence actually talking about what you want to research and do.... getting a PhD in eng is all about the research. You really need to expand on that. It's a statement of "Purpose" not a statement of things you've already done.

I always forget february only has 28 days until the end of the month comes... well, 29 this year. They wanted februgatory to last a little bit longer this year.

It's been 40 days... 40. How can you not update my status from received in 40 DAYS.

I have "soft teeth" or thin enamel. I have a $100 toothbrush, prescription toothpaste, floss daily, no candy, no soda..... My dentists basically told me my whole life will likely be like this. Within the last 3 months I've had 19 teeth worked on. Im ready for dentures lol.

Eat a half carton of frozen custard while watching parks and rec and crying. Ok, maybe not the crying, but definitely the frozen custard.