Venting Thread- Vent about anything.

[shadowclaw]

I'm having major writer's block right now. I need to write a pretty short statement of my academic goals for a fellowship application at my school. This shouldn't be difficult, but I'm having trouble writing something that looks good. I also need to go to bed, but I'm just not tired.

[fencergirl]

On 1/17/2016 at 9:39 AM, weilongli1 said:

Two of my applications have had wrinkles this weekend:

Just to sympathize, I had a major wrinkle submitting my last application today - I thought the deadline was midnight but it was noon and I missed the deadline by two hours by the time I realized! Also couldn't submit payment due to issues with their payment system so I'm feeling pretty stressed at the moment and frustrated with myself. But mistakes happen, we just have to hope the university can be a little understanding!

[kingslayer]

I just had a college basically guilt trip me for not being able to go out to their campus. Look, I want to go to campus for the interview as well. I'd LOVE to go. I haven't been out of California in years. I just don't have the money. I just had car issues, plus I'm saving for if I manage to get into grad school (costs to move out there). If you want to pay for me to be out there, I can do it, otherwise please don't shame me because there's literally nothing I can do. Like if this were a doctoral program, I'd understand, but it's not. Grr.

[TheMonkeyOnMyBack]

So we were told that all interview invites would be out to day for a particular school but there hasn't been a peep on the forum or the results or in my email . 

 

I am going slowly insane ..

[knp]

SIX interviews, @kingslayer? And an acceptance! Wow, you are slaying it, congratulations!

[kingslayer]

8 hours ago, knp said:

SIX interviews, @kingslayer? And an acceptance! Wow, you are slaying it, congratulations!

Thanks, but I probably will get rejected from everything! Like on one hand I'd be ok with that because I really like the school i was accepted to, but I just don't like the funding option they gave me.

[knp]

Oh, I find these kinds of comments so difficult to respond to! On the one hand, I don't want to tell you you're wrong, you'll get so many more acceptances! That seems overly chipper, I don't know it's true, and most importantly, I don't want to be like "no your feelings are wrong." On the other hand, I don't agree with you! I don't think think it's true you'll probably get rejected from everything. Those numbers you have so far seem to indicate an application that is, at the very least, competitive for admission at a whole bunch of places. But I'm glad you have an okay offer from a good place, and I hope you get a lot more offers!

[Analyticchic]

Still waiting to hear back from one of the programs I applied to and it's taking forever. I submitted my application a day or so before the deadline and my status hasn't changed from "submitted". I'm getting worried

[haltheincandescent]

car battery died, ugh. in the car i'm currently borrowing from my dad (who is out of town and so not using it) so i can get to the airport for interviews and such. thankfully, i did (after several frustrating hours), get it running again. however, i only was able to get it running again because there was an extra battery and charger in the car--which is to say, this is an ongoing problem, one my dad had planned ahead for. which is also to say: it's probably going to die again. ugh. this exact thing, pretty much, happened to my own car: leave it for more than 3 days without driving, and the battery would be dead. after several frustrating months of dealing with that (i was living on campus, and had to park at the football stadium--but had to move the car for football games; so it dying was an absolute disaster), here i am with no car, borrowing one. one that's doing the same goddamn thing. here's hoping it doesn't become too obnoxious, and that making it back home and to the airport goes smoothly.

[haltheincandescent]

Okay. Sorry for the double post, but this one is necessary. 

I have a neighbor, who plays the harp. Loudly. Actually, having played the harp briefly myself, as a child, I'm not sure if there's really a way to control the volume while playing the harp. But anyway: it's loud. And really not good--I mean, they're obviously practicing, but, still. The same three bars over and over, each time with slightly different errors isn't exactly the angelic harp music one might be hoping for. (I'm not sure if I'd be any less annoyed if they were better, to be honest, but I'd at least like the option). And, perhaps most importantly/obnoxiously: they mostly practice at.....11pm. You know, that time when people like to sleep.

At first, because I'm an awkward person, I didn't really want to be the person to knock on their door, or the wall, and yell at them to please, for the love of all that is holy, respect other people's space and silence, especially at 11pm, oh my god. But it's every night and I'm about to explode. This is the kind of thing that, if it was house or punk being blasted, would get the cops called. (It's that loud.) However, I have no clue which neighbor it is. The sound is kind of echo-y, so it could be my next door neighbor, but it could also be the one directly above me, or, alternatively, the one diagonal. Or another one altogether, I suppose. I'm not sure I want to knock on each door in my complex, and bother already-bothered-by-ridiculous-harp-music-people even more than they are already. Yet.

The thing is, though: I have Skype interviews next week. And, while they normally practice at 11pm, I swear, if they decide to strum those strings while I'm in the middle of trying to secure my academic and professional future: I will be just slightly more than upset. I haven't discovered a not-at-home place that makes practical sense to do a Skype interview at, yet, so I'm stuck with this, and: christ, I should be able to do it at home without worrying about bad harp chords interrupting it and/or my sleep. Ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh. So siccccck of it. (Can you tell that it's happening currently? >.>)

Edited January 25, 2016 by haltheincandescent

[sjoh197]

@haltheincandescent I think if you knocked on the doors of people who were sick of the harp but not the owners... you probably won't meet any resistance or hard feelings. In fact... the neighbors might even join you in attempting to locate said neighbor. 

Also... have you thought about going to either your college library study rooms (if you're still in school) or a public library? They are often quiet and I've seen people doing skype chats there before.

[haltheincandescent]

10 hours ago, sjoh197 said:

@haltheincandescent I think if you knocked on the doors of people who were sick of the harp but not the owners... you probably won't meet any resistance or hard feelings. In fact... the neighbors might even join you in attempting to locate said neighbor. 

Also... have you thought about going to either your college library study rooms (if you're still in school) or a public library? They are often quiet and I've seen people doing skype chats there before.

I'll try, yeah, I'm just the least assertive person on the planet (and until the interview stuff, it hasn't been that much of a problem; just spiraling a bit because of nerves and also having been sick)--and I've also had trouble in the past (though, admittedly, that was when living in dorms [in the party-capital of the college world!], where the population/attitude was a bit different), where asking for quiet (especially at certain times), would end in the opposite (noise at the exact times you asked for none to be, even when it wasn't happening then before), with little attention/oversight from RAs. I guess at least the stereotypical harp player wouldn't be as vaguely spiteful as party-first dorm mates, but, who knows.

As for the libraries--you would think, but no. Everything's either a space for individual and silent work, or a space that allows talking but is prioritized for groups (so if you're alone in a study room, even skyping, a group can come along and basically force you out (with support from library staff)--and they're prime real estate around the times I have my interviews, especially this time of the semester).

Either way, it ends up that my advisor offered his office for a bit, so, yay for quietness for this, at least. 

[hippyscientist]

Ugh so in my pre-interview skype session last night the internet kept dropping, and it was really frustrating. I have no idea where to go to have my proper skype interview as I was on the university network (it covers home and uni), my friend's internet is worse than the uni's and there's no safe public space open at the time I will need (thank you time difference). Ugh, it would be so much better if it was streamlined internet. I think I'm just going to have to apologise in advance but I think it looks bad.  

[shadowclaw]

16 hours ago, piglet33 said:

Ugh so in my pre-interview skype session last night the internet kept dropping, and it was really frustrating. I have no idea where to go to have my proper skype interview as I was on the university network (it covers home and uni), my friend's internet is worse than the uni's and there's no safe public space open at the time I will need (thank you time difference). Ugh, it would be so much better if it was streamlined internet. I think I'm just going to have to apologise in advance but I think it looks bad.  

Are you running Skype wired or wireless? The general recommendation is to do Skype interviews wired because wireless connections can be flaky. I know my university has various tables in the library where you can plug in to the network. Do you know of anywhere that you can plug in?

[haltheincandescent]

Okay. I know I was just complaining about loud neighbors, but: now I've got one literally blasting ACDC (starting at 6:30 in the morning). I heard people above me knocking on the wall, and I think someone knocking on the offender's door. And yes, they turned it up. Like, what is even going through this person's mind that says, yes, 6:30 am is an appropriate time for this, and screw anyone who doesn't think so, I'll just make it louder. At least with the harpist, I'm fairly convinced they have no idea people can hear them, but.......ugh.

[hippyscientist]

Today is not going well.

1. I made a mug of tea and put it in the fridge and took the milk back to bed.

2. The wind blew my room key (it's a card) out my pocket so now I can't get into my house

3. One of the guys on my course made some really mean comments to me in class today

4. My tongue bar broke and now I gotta run home in the middle of a really busy day to get a new key and a new tongue bar

5. The microwave didnt heat up my food well

6. The stuff I ordered so my skype interview won't drop is being delivered to my moms house. And she's away. Now I've had to reorder it. 

Ugh. I need good news

Edited January 29, 2016 by piglet33

[kingslayer]

I'm taking my first online course in years, and I'm starting to remember why I hate them I'm already DONE. I had my first quiz, and I got 60% because I missed two questions. It was a SYLLABUS quiz.

It's amazing how many interpretations words can have. For instance, on the quiz there was a question like "TRUE or FALSE: You can make up an exam if there are circumstances that are preventing you from taking it that are out of your control." On the syllabus, it says that you are not allowed to make up exams unless you have documented proof that something happened. I had no idea how she wanted me to answer the question. I said the answer was TRUE and I think I got it wrong. Did she want me to say FALSE because she didn't mention anything about documentation? I don't know. Arghhh

[The Wayfarer]

One of my colleagues got me quite angry last week. And in retrospect I probably overreacted but I am also one of those people who it takes a REALLY long time to get me mad but then when I'm there all hope is lost.

Not only did this colleague accost my advisor in the middle of the hallway, in front of others, why she didn't receive feedback on something last semester she has been going around flatout speaking about other faculty members and how poorly they work with graduate students (actually just her.) Yet she wants all of these faculty members to me on her committee?

I basically ended up throwing her under the bus to my advisor which may not have been the best strategy. But she just does things like this on a weekly basis. 

[morifol]

10 hours ago, kingslayer said:

I'm taking my first online course in years, and I'm starting to remember why I hate them I'm already DONE. I had my first quiz, and I got 60% because I missed two questions. It was a SYLLABUS quiz.

It's amazing how many interpretations words can have. For instance, on the quiz there was a question like "TRUE or FALSE: You can make up an exam if there are circumstances that are preventing you from taking it that are out of your control." On the syllabus, it says that you are not allowed to make up exams unless you have documented proof that something happened. I had no idea how she wanted me to answer the question. I said the answer was TRUE and I think I got it wrong. Did she want me to say FALSE because she didn't mention anything about documentation? I don't know. Arghhh

OMG. A syllabus quiz is soooooo... both cool and ridiculous in its stupidity.

[morifol]

Do you ever feel that it would be great if your friends were really, really aware of how horrible waiting for the results is? I wish someone took me out so I wouldn't be browsing Grad Cafe and logging into my official e-mail address I used for application on SATURDAY when I know nothing will come until Monday, best case scenario!

[shadowclaw]

So someone I went to school with in undergrad is in South America right now doing an unpaid internship on a forest reserve. It's a seriously cool place to learn about tropical ecology and gain some field skills, not to mention it's beautiful and I always wanted to visit the rainforests of central and South America. 

When I commented on one of his photos on Facebook that I was super jealous, he told me I should think about going down to do some work. So I actually decided to look up what it was all about and commented back that their schedule was compatible with mine and I'd think about it. 

Then he messaged me telling me how rough it is and it's basically camping in the jungle, there's no electricity, it's a 3 mile walk to town, the terrain is mountainous, etc., and that I probably wouldn't want to come and might not be able to handle it if I did.

Wtf? Why even bother to publicly tell me to come when you really think I'm too wussy/lazy/out of shape to do research in the rainforest? 

[Need Coffee in an IV]

My dad just called me 6 times within a min. He is emotionally exhausting.

[sjoh197]

11 minutes ago, Need Coffee in an IV said:

My dad just called me 6 times within a min. He is emotionally exhausting.

Oh man, do I remember this. My ex step father (who has since been evaluated as Paranoid Personality Disorder) used to send 20 texts at a time and if you didn't answer a call he would just keep calling and calling and calling.

He once called me 11 times during an exam. 11 times. Was it an emergency? No. He just couldn't understand why a college student wouldn't answer their phone immediately at his will. Glad I don't have to deal with that anymore.

[Need Coffee in an IV]

1 minute ago, sjoh197 said:

Oh man, do I remember this. My ex step father (who has since been evaluated as Paranoid Personality Disorder) used to send 20 texts at a time and if you didn't answer a call he would just keep calling and calling and calling.

He once called me 11 times during an exam. 11 times. Was it an emergency? No. He just couldn't understand why a college student wouldn't answer their phone immediately at his will. Glad I don't have to deal with that anymore.

Sounds like a lot like my dad! He has accused me for lacking empathy and loyalty to my family a lot. It was pretty awful but it's manageable now since I live 6 hours away and I've gone to therapy. I can't change him, but I can change my actions towards him. Now I just don't upset anymore and go on with my business.

[sjoh197]

My step dad would show up at my apt at 830 in the morning for shits and ask about cars parked in front of my building lol.I remember him telling me that if I ever married my then boyfriend he would never come :/ Too bad for him because we're still together 3.5 years later, and he is no longer welcome in my life.

At least you have been able to manage your father. Mine was really wacky and I had to shut out the toxicity.