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hippyscientist

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Everything posted by hippyscientist

  1. I'm with you on the short turn around. It's a lot of pressure huh? It's really tough wrapping up a life, I have a few really needy friends who keep demanding to see me. I want to, but I also gotta finish my degree! 2 suitcases? Yikes! Good luck - remember you can take 2 hand luggage bags too, and sometimes it's worth paying the oversized bag fee (less than an extra suitcase) to fit more in. Jetlag sucks! I get into NY about 7pm local time after 8 hrs flying, and then have to turn around and do a 5 hour drive. So I feel your pain and sympathise!! At least you'll get to see your parents
  2. See you'd think so right?? But no, he leaves a week before I move into my apartment so I have to do all that crap by myself anyway haha! I'll be right, just having a good vent to the internet. I'm pretty excited, although I was working out my time-frame today for the two weeks before classes start. 1 week is half taken up with mandatory international orientation, then the next I start my TA-ship. Literally zero time to sort out the stuff I want to sort out. Blinking mandatory orientation, I already want to skip it! Sheesh, 14 hour drive. That's tough to do in one whack, I think the longest I did was 12 hours and I was starting to go a bit crazy by then. Cute cat, although I don't know why but he looks a bit like I'd imagine Sheldon Cooper to look if he was feline. My research actually worked today I managed to match my skeletons! Now to repeat that 30 times...I definitely don't have 60 days to do it in so I hope I get faster.
  3. I think I now understand how some people take SO long getting PhDs (and this is by no mean directed at anyone) but three of the girls I share my workspace with have spent literally 0 hrs working today. They've bitched, they've whined and they've eaten food and gossiped, but I have yet to see any actual work get done. Sure we all have days where we're not very productive but it's like this every day. It doesn't really affect me but it's a frustrating observation! @shadowclaw that's just non-sensical! I think students like that will be my biggest frustration as a TA. Lazy and apathetic, combined with a lack of commonsense drives me up the wall...maybe working with undergrads isn't such a good idea haha!!!
  4. @Pink Fuzzy Bunny yay! Congratulations on a successful move & graduation. @Need Coffee in an IV congratulations on your graduation I forget that not everyone is going on to do a PhD. I'm so glad I did my masters year, it's helped so much in refining my interests, developing skills and really focusing on specialising for a year made me realise I do love my subject. All this talk of moving. I'm excited to get into my apartment but the thought of moving all my stuff, with my dad, just, no. I'm kinda regretting asking him to move me in a funny way. If I was going on my own I could pretend that it was just another travelling adventure, instead I've got dad who will be questioning decisions that I make, remarking on how expensive (or not) things I buy are and be fairly emotional. This is the first time I've felt even slightly apprehensive about moving. I don't like it. Bring back the excited about everything feelings!
  5. I wasn't sure about it - I was craving rum but didn't have anything to mix it with except coconut water, so I tried it. I added a bit of lemon juice too which helped offset the sweetness but it was surprisingly good hah. So glad I'm not the only one with weird academic dreams. Mine never have me in the bad situation, I'm always watching someone else then acting as the narrator of the story it's strange!
  6. Okay so do you ever have odd dreams? I had a very strange one last night. We (random academic-y people) were at a conference in Ancient Greece, but in modern day clothes with powerpoints, in an amphitheatre and a friend (who did my undergrad course) is presenting her paper. Along the row from me and my best MSc friend is our most notorious and scary lecturer. He starts asking questions of the presenter, while she's presenting and she's getting visibly more flustered. Then she snaps and asks the audience "I can't be the only one noticing that I'm being grilled right?" Everyone looks at each other and we start to "oooohhh" (you know, like teenagers do when someone does something wrong in class and gets called out?). The scary lecturer turns to me and my MSc friend and gives us the "you understand, you get why I do this" nod. Then my alarm woke me up. I'm not too sure what this says about me, except maybe coconut water and rum before bed isn't the best idea. Anyway, thought you all might get a giggle from my weird brain.
  7. Who the heck had the audacity to tell you that?! I'm livid!! If anyone gives you a hard time you can say "my friend hippyscientist is an only child, with a single mother and she's upping and leaving the country and not bringing her mother with her". Agh. That's horrible that anyone would even consider asking that. Way to rile me up this morning!
  8. You've broken me! This is amazing
  9. Damn all these high grades!!! It's going to be so different moving from the system I'm used to, where anything above 70% is absolutely incredible, to that being a poor grade. Also the way assessments are done is totally different. 10% on homework?! What?! I think that's going to be the biggest shock to my system, how things are assessed and how things are graded. It's just a million miles removed from what we do in the UK.
  10. Oh my goodness. You should not have told me that. I don't need a couch, or a TV, or lamps, or a car, or books or anything else that I've budgeted for. My entire moving budget is going on kitchen stuff. I went to a (nice) big home department store today (John Lewis for anyone interested) and spent far too long looking at kettles, and woks and knives. I'm having to leave my lovely knife collection here because there is no way I'll get that through immigration and customs. I need good cooking knives people! Relatedly, it's my birthday the day before classes start and two days after my dad leaves me in the US so maybe I'll see if I can get birthday presents for kitchen equipment. Williams Sonoma. I will remember that!
  11. I like food talk though. Makes me feel slightly better about the disaster. I thought take 2 had worked. Just got to the bottom and it's gross. Won't be trying that again. Pretty sure it'll work well as pancakes though! I can't wait to move and actually start building my kitchen collection. I sold all my stuff after undergrad as I was moving to Australia (but didn't get funding) so I've been living on hand-me-downs and cheap equipment. It's made me very creative with cooking!
  12. PBJ microwave mug cake. Jam Roly Poly protein powder, egg, almond milk & I was making it with protein peanut butter which has a totally different texture, viscosity and apparently burning point! Just being super lazy and cooking with the microwave. Had to throw it all out Take 2 worked though!
  13. That's the frustrating thing. I'm an excellent cook, and used to work as a chef. I was being lazy and paid the price. Nothing worse than burnt peanut butter smell.
  14. shellac is great, so long as you get it taken off professionally. Sorry to hear that it's not been good for your nails. I should not be allowed to live by myself. I just burnt peanut butter.
  15. @Need Coffee in an IV woohoo! Congrats. Yay to everyone who's graduating soon My research is finally getting somewhere, and my advisor was pretty complimentary about the work the other day. I'm relieved because at one point this week I thought it wouldn;'t be going anywhere for quite some time. I've just realised the classes I'm taking in the fall really aren't too thrilling. In fact I think content wise, they're about the most snooze-worthy possible! But the offers for my area are really slim for the fall semester and apparently the fun content comes later. I hope so because there's lots of classes I want to take from the course catalogue but none are there for Fall 2016. Agh!
  16. Wow I don't think we ever were given this sort of leniency in terms of font, margins etc. It was all prescribed and you were penalised for changing any element. All work was given a word count (I'm talking undergraduate and masters here) and you were allowed to go 10% under but not a word over. The advice @Danger_Zone gives with things to consider is important, but also see if you repeat ideas (but have phrased them differently). To you, the author, it may seem like a good piece of work, but is there someone you could maybe discuss elements with? I have a good critical friend who crucifies all my work, and it's made me much more concise (though not on these forums). Remember, while depth is important, you don't need to cover EVERYTHING in one essay. Key information, key texts, key theories (I'm not sure exactly about history in general) are great, as are more minutiae but not every i needs to be dotted and every t crossed. Be harsh with yourself when you read back over the work. Instead of thinking "Yes this is a good essay" think like the person marking it, or a journal reviewer. Mark it like you might mark other students (in your head). Use other feedback as a reference. Find the flaws.
  17. yep neither system is perfect, but each has their benefits. I had to go to the doctors today to pick up a prescription for some allergy medication. I waited for 50 minutes at my GPs, to see my GP for 2 minutes, to then wait in line at the pharmacy for 10 minutes to hand my prescription in to be told I'll have to come back tomorrow to pay them ~$30 for the pleasure of having my eyes open for the next 2 months. It always makes me grumpy! Yes I know this isn't a bad case, but it was my experience today and it still pee'ed me off because I have to go back to the drs tomorrow for an appointment with the nurse for a different repeat prescription. Why they couldn't do it all in one appointment is beyond me.
  18. Yay! That's so exciting!! Things are starting to happen
  19. So envious! have an amazing hike (when you get there)
  20. Do you ever just have those weeks where nothing works? I've tried and failed to crack on with my research today and it's because my routine is all shaken up this week. I'm trying to find productive stuff to get on with but it's just not working. Frustrated just doesn't begin to cut it.
  21. Everyone loves to bitch about the NHS, and it's certainly not perfect, but I think we can forget just how awesome a service it is. I'm always grateful for ti when I come back from living abroad.
  22. Check up for me is £10. I will have a hygienist appointment too so total cost is ~ £50. Like it's not cheap, but it is in comparison to the US. I wouldn't know the cost of procedures like root canals as I had all my major dental work (Orthodonture, mouth surgery etc) done on the NHS so we didn't pay a thing.
  23. Yesterday was awful! My friend who was staying left, I dislocated a bone in my foot, my kindle broke, my phone broke, my chicken was tough and disgusting and to top it all off I had no wine in the house. So far today is going slightly better. @Pink Fuzzy Bunny thankfully, dental isn't too expensive here so I'm having a check up before I leave. Hopefully that gives me time to figure out the US system before I need to use it!
  24. I've never heard of them before...but I can see mid-PhD breakdown purchases already. I'm not sure whether to thank you or curse you for the link because I want!!! @Pink Fuzzy Bunny That just looks awesome and is totally necessary for daily survival. They all look so squishy and hug-able!
  25. The White Company are amazing and do the softest toys. I just looked at they have a lamb (http://www.thewhitecompany.com/the-little-white-company/toys-and-books/soft-toys/lara-lamb/). That's so lovely that you try to collect them. My teddies are so important to me and they're from key events in my life and anyone who's not okay with them is not okay with me! I agree. I'm honest. I don't like bullsh*t and I would much prefer someone be honest to my face. Criticism is just a learning opportunity. I'm helpful to a point, and then I get frustrated when people don't help themselves. I have very little tolerance for lack of common sense and apathy, and I think that pushes a lot of people away. It's okay though. I'm happy with a few close-knit friends, a collegiate and amicable rapport with colleagues and a pleasant glancing interaction with acquaintances.
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