FoggyAnhinga

Haha for me, my fear starts to sink in as soon as they give me a squeeze ball to make my veins bulge (that's when I am thinking "oh dear, here comes trouble"). I used to fear vaccination/shot needles too but nowadays I'm okay with those since I found many shots nowadays (including flu shot) enter your skin rather shallowly instead of jabbing it all the way in (thinking about shots back then, ouch, lol). Speaking of blood draw / shots, etc, another thing I'll vent is EXTREMELY long wait at hospitals' urgent care department (or even worse, the nurse takes you into a room, do a quick checkup, and says "the doctor will be with you shortly", but that "shortly" turns out to be another hour and a half wait).

Ah needles... to all those who fear needles, you are not alone, because I too have a crazy fear of them (I don't mind finger pricks, but blood draw from arm veins... *shudders*). Seeing how I actually passed out the last time I had my blood drawn (which was far from pleasant), I don't think I'll have my blood drawn again for a long time...

empire domain

Haha this happens to me from time to time... over the years I've had calls from telemarketers (most of us did at some point I'm sure), debt collectors (they thought I was someone else for a LONG time, I was amazed at how persistent they were - they were leaving automatic voice mails), an old man who thought I was his long-lost friend (yeah he kept calling me for a whole month), various craigslist users who were trying to buy a shiny Toyota truck (someone posted a truck ad with a phone number typo, which ended up as my number), and... kinda goes on lol.

Somewhat unrelated to Superbowl (well, I guess it kind of is since this involved Superbowl results between some people and I) are GROUP TEXTS Gah... I appreciate it when my friends text me, but when one good friend decides to group text me along with ~30 other people, some of who I might know but most I don't, and my next few days are followed by a slew of reply-all texts from numbers I don't even have... yeah, it's kinda annoying when I'm expecting a reply from my girlfriend or my family member lol (but instead when my phone is buzzed I get "yah let's do it!" "awesome" "sooo cool" "yes" from strangers).

Big tree

Today I was really hoping to go for a nice long morning run, but turns out it snowed all night, and now all the roads are stiff frozen... so... being indoors all day, I guess it's another challenge to avoid any temptation of checking my emails

lunch special

Lol I was rooting for Seahawks because I am from around that area - but yes, it was an AWESOME game, and though I was sad, Pats did pull off an amazing move with less than 30 seconds to spare. Since this is a venting thread... I will vent about Superbowl: why in the world did they have to throw the ball when they were so close?!?

Travel agency

Alive animal

So... did that complain to the coordinator actually work for her?? Because if it did, wow... just wow... I also knew this one girl who would use her tone of kindness and nurturing to hide her real trait, which was her excessive pride and looking down or pointing out the inferiority of others (every time she used that "caring" tone, she kept describing herself as a thoughtful and selfless person - yes, she literally said these words, which was pretty annoying, because I, like others, saw right through her). She was also passive-aggressively condescending (while using that disgustingly false kind tone) to other male grad students' girlfriends, which of course, is discouraged if you want to have a good reputation in your department (she also was condescending towards my girlfriend as well). However, there were several guys who were completely oblivious of her trait and simply fell for her looks, only to have their hearts broken some time later... pity...

I do know a few friends who dated fellow grad students, and ultimately it comes down to how compatible you and the other person will be together (after all, grad students are human beings, and no two students are identical). For some, it went well, while for others, not so well. But if I can think of a positive side to dating a fellow grad student (or a medical student/resident, as for my case, haha - I'm currently in a LDR with a medical resident), it is that your significant other will easily understand and relate to any complex academic/research stresses & troubles you are going through (non-grad student SOs can understand easily too, I'm not denying that... but some might not). Now, as for dating a fellow grad student in your own department... that is something I would not recommend (esp. if your department is small). Sure, some people maintained happy relationships meeting their SO in their own department, but for couples which this didn't go so well, it can end up somewhat awkward (while they were dating, they shared the same facility, took same classes, and also saw each other ~24 hrs if they were living together, but once their relationship starts to fall apart, it becomes rather unpleasant to have to continue facing and interacting each other every day at work). But, these are only suggestions, and in the end, you never know unless you try meeting and getting to know the person As for me... I had a VERY hard time finding a date during my master's, mainly because most of the people in my cohort were quite a few years older than I was (I was one of the very few first year master's students who entered the program directly from undergrad), and most of the women were already dating/engaged/married. Plus, working at a remote research station for a large portion of my master's didn't exactly improve my dating scene, haha...

Wow somebody must've been SUPER sensitive to feel butthurt about something like that, haha... And for the bus thing - I hate the fact that most bus drivers don't carry any change, which I realize is difficult to do since they have to keep to their schedules, but it sucks when you waste an entire $5, $10, or even a $20 bill just for a ride across the town.

mother earth

honey crisp

I think I've seen a case of that very recently on a thread that shall not be named... Another thing to vent: why do people outside the elevator always try to barge in, without allowing people inside the elevator to exit first? So annoying...

Yep, I definitely heard some of these... when I mention how some POIs receive over hundred emails for one lab position, many older scientists with PhD respond "whoa... really? Wow, that's somewhat more competitive than back in my application days..." You bet it is!!

Looks like they are perfectly meant for each other lol.

Wow... just wow... what does she expect people to do, babysit her?! I'm laughing at the "can you do this calculation for me" hahaha... God speed to any guy who is or will be dating her...

early morning

unexpected humiliation

I'm a guy but I have a HUGE respect for dedicated housewives or househusbands who dedicate large part of their day to housework/chores/making meals, etc. I never realized how tedious and time-consuming housework/doing chores/cooking/cleaning/running errands (and taking care of their children) can be until I lived alone without any roommates during my master's (before then I lived with several friends so our chores were all shared, which was completely different). I too like to keep things clean and I try to get all the chores done when I can and I also prepare healthy meals when I'm on my own. And trying to balance all of this with graduate school work is certainly not easy, since doing housework can take you ALL day! Unfortunately, there are still many people out there who think housewives/househusbands are people who simply stay at home and chill out or do nothing and have lots of free time, which does aggravate me, especially when they ask "so... what is his wife doing these days? Nothing? I mean, stay at home mom, so she has a lot of time, right?"

Perhaps more people emailed him, but you can't make a final prediction just yet! Those people who contacted your POI before you probably did simply because they started their application process early (doesn't mean their apps are better than yours). Your POI was telling you that number just to give you an idea of your competition. If he's a really good and a reasonable POI, he will probably go through every email and look at every students' potential (not just grades and GRE scores), and you never know if you become one of the finalists to be interviewed!

Possibly my biggest surprise was the act of triumph after paying and submitting all my applications immediately stomped by feeling of guilt or regret that I could have done better with my applications...