We've wined, we've waited, now it's time to celebrate 2016

[Pink Fuzzy Bunny]

Well... start of the semester means staying late, staying late means no evening jogs which means... now I have to run in the morning!

Did it for the first time this morning, and let me tell ya... it's gonna be a long 6-10 years!

[rhombusbombus]

First day of school over here! I have no classes until tomorrow!

[janetjanejune]

3 hours ago, Pink Fuzzy Bunny said:

Yes. Very, very flat. Even living in Illinois my entire life did nothing to prepare me for how flat our damn country was.

I had the opposite thought when I moved from Southeast Georgia to New York. Our country is so hilly!

@sjoh197 I can't recall any David Bowie songs. Please don't hurt me.

@Neist Just bought The Sims 4 two weeks before I move. Not a good idea.

Found out my program is tailgating for the first football game of the season. First time tailgating *plus* haven't been to a football game since senior year Homecoming seven years ago. How do sports work again?

[sjoh197]

I just had a dream that everything made out of beef spawned into alien dog sized monsters that looked like a cross between spiders, lobsters, and a praying mantis. 

I think my brain is upset about this whole grad school thing. 

[MarineBluePsy]

On 8/20/2016 at 10:10 AM, Pink Fuzzy Bunny said:

Also having a barbecue today! I'm pretty excited. I've met a few people in my cohort and they're pretty awesome (MarineBluePsy worried me). 

Hehehe I'm glad you had a better experience.

On 8/20/2016 at 4:08 PM, sjoh197 said:

So after 2 weeks of dealing with post office over what should have been a 2 day delivery... They told me they had sent my package back to amazon. I called amazon on Thursday, told them what happened, and they gave me a refund. Now today the package arrived? (Apparently the post office has no clue what's going on with their packages.)

I dont know if I should call amazon and tell them what happened or what?

Yes you should, it would be the right thing to do.  Something is going on with the world of ordering things because I had a frustrating time with Barnes and Noble.  They took my money and then said they didn't have the book I ordered in stock and yet it was listed as in stock on their website.  I demanded a refund and surprise surprise the book showed up the next day.

5 hours ago, Pink Fuzzy Bunny said:

Yes. Very, very flat. Even living in Illinois my entire life did nothing to prepare me for how flat our damn country was.

I know right?  Shouldn't it be more amazing?

1 hour ago, janetjanejune said:

I had the opposite thought when I moved from Southeast Georgia to New York. Our country is so hilly!

Hmmm maybe I took the flat route and there is also a hilly one?  I'll have to study the map some more.

[Neist]

11 hours ago, Pink Fuzzy Bunny said:

Well... start of the semester means staying late, staying late means no evening jogs which means... now I have to run in the morning!

Did it for the first time this morning, and let me tell ya... it's gonna be a long 6-10 years!

 

Well, hopefully it's closer to 6.  

8 hours ago, rhombusbombus said:

First day of school over here! I have no classes until tomorrow!

Good luck with them! My first day of classes went well. Reading is going to be easy (at least for me). Little nervous about TA'ing, but I know I'll love it when I get into the swing. It's just a new experience and all.

[hippyscientist]

So first day of classes was successful. I LOVE one of my profs and the other seems to be an easy class. But holy heck I only just sat down to eat dinner and I was up at 6.30 this morning. Still haven't hit the gym up yet, despite the fact I've been craving it. My mornings haven't quite managed to fit it in yet. Tomorrow I return my rental car :/ and then we're running around on foot/bus and will have time in the morning to lift things. 

You all sound like you're settling in nicely

[rhombusbombus]

@hippyscientist You have such a busy day! I got back at 7 and thought I was in late! My department is very social and I'm trying to figure out how to go to their events while actually getting stuff done!

[Pink Fuzzy Bunny]

@Neist I'm sure you'll be a fine TA. If you actually care, it's pretty hard to flub it up!

[Neist]

2 minutes ago, Pink Fuzzy Bunny said:

@Neist I'm sure you'll be a fine TA. If you actually care, it's pretty hard to flub it up!

Thanks!  I do care. I definitely have a genuine interest in helping people perform better. I just hope they take advantage of my time. Haha!

[Pink Fuzzy Bunny]

2 hours ago, hippyscientist said:

So first day of classes was successful. I LOVE one of my profs and the other seems to be an easy class. But holy heck I only just sat down to eat dinner and I was up at 6.30 this morning. Still haven't hit the gym up yet, despite the fact I've been craving it. My mornings haven't quite managed to fit it in yet. Tomorrow I return my rental car :/ and then we're running around on foot/bus and will have time in the morning to lift things. 

You all sound like you're settling in nicely

You had mentioned something a few pages back about getting a car, right? Is that a thing?

[MarineBluePsy]

Anyone else completely amazed by all of the stuff you can find on Amazon?  I mean really....how can they stock so many things?!  I've found textbooks, bedding, towels.....and what else do I need?  Oh I wanted a scale.  And I need some tupperware.  Hmmm I could order more bakeware....there must be Amazon support groups lol.

[Pink Fuzzy Bunny]

6 hours ago, MarineBluePsy said:

Anyone else completely amazed by all of the stuff you can find on Amazon?  I mean really....how can they stock so many things?!  I've found textbooks, bedding, towels.....and what else do I need?  Oh I wanted a scale.  And I need some tupperware.  Hmmm I could order more bakeware....there must be Amazon support groups lol.

Yes! Getting Prime was the worst mistake of my life. Cat toys? Textbooks? A wake-up light (which, BTW, HIIIIIGHLY recommend)? They sell everything!

 

The downside is apparent if you read stories from the people who work in their warehouses. Miserable.

[hippyscientist]

7 hours ago, Pink Fuzzy Bunny said:

You had mentioned something a few pages back about getting a car, right? Is that a thing?

Yep but I can't pick it up until I have a local license and that is covered with red tape right now. So looks like I'll be carless for about 2 weeks. Not the end of the world but frustrating nonetheless.

@rhombusbombus yes! busy! My department is super social too which I'm surprisingly okay with. We have random chats throughout the day but when you need to do work, you can stick headphones on and get down to it which seems perfect. I'm a little worried because everything seems to be fitting so well at the moment.

@Neist you'll rock the TA stuff. My first TA lab section is an exam for them all so they're going to be best pleased! 

@MarineBluePsy Amazon Prime is incredible. I get the TV stuff on my TV, free 2 day delivery is dangerous with setting up an apartment and I keep remembering stuff I want. 

[Pink Fuzzy Bunny]

They're really good at making Prime so convenient too. I think this semester I am going to save up for an Amazon Echo, which means that I'll be able to lay in bed and say "Alexa, order scrunchy cat toys!" and they'll show up at my door two days later. SO DANGEROUS

[MarineBluePsy]

3 hours ago, Pink Fuzzy Bunny said:

Yes! Getting Prime was the worst mistake of my life. Cat toys? Textbooks? A wake-up light (which, BTW, HIIIIIGHLY recommend)? They sell everything!

 

The downside is apparent if you read stories from the people who work in their warehouses. Miserable.

 

2 hours ago, hippyscientist said:

 

@MarineBluePsy Amazon Prime is incredible. I get the TV stuff on my TV, free 2 day delivery is dangerous with setting up an apartment and I keep remembering stuff I want. 

This is exactly why I didn't subscribe to Prime.  It doesn't take absurdly long to get what I ordered without it and knowing there is an extra delay or two makes me think twice before hitting submit payment.

It wouldn't surprise me if the workers there were unhappy.  Companies that large tend to set up in areas where jobs are needed so the people who work there feel like they have to suck it up or go back to being unemployed.

[Neist]

Oh, my. 

I learned that the department here has iPads with Kindle libraries on them for graduate student use. Yay for frugality! Of course, I'll still have to buy some books, but I'm very appreciative. 

And on topic, I love Amazon Prime. True, it's overly easy to buy more than one needs, but the education-affiliate price of prime is minimal, and I probably would spend more than the cost of shipping over the course of a year.

Edited August 23, 2016 by Neist

[hippyscientist]

2 hours ago, Neist said:

Oh, my. 

I learned that the department here has iPads with Kindle libraries on them for graduate student use. Yay for frugality! Of course, I'll still have to buy some books, but I'm very appreciative. 

And on topic, I love Amazon Prime. True, it's overly easy to buy more than one needs, but the education-affiliate price of prime is minimal, and I probably would spend more than the cost of shipping over the course of a year.

I primarily have prime because it works out cheaper than netflix for tv bingeing. Plus having been used to the convenience before, it is difficult to acclimate back so that too...

[Neist]

@hippyscientist I saved myself the trouble of never watching TV anymore, so.  TV is definitely easier than reading, but I find reading far more gratifying. I don't even have Netflix.

I'm pretty lucky in that graduate school won't be a huge adjustment for me. I have little hobbies else than reading, and I pretty much read the same sort of books I'm going to be forced to read.

[hippyscientist]

@Neist yeah I get that. Living alone though I like the tv on to keep my company while I cook/iron/clean etc. These things have to be done in the evenings when I get back so I allow myself screen time til 9 (or just past...like today) then tuck myself up in bed with a good book.

So far grad school seems to be going well. I wrote my first official bit of code today, in about an hour and a half and it worked! Self-teaching (with a little bit of direction from the resources given to us) seems to be going well. When's the hiccup going to come?

[Danger_Zone]

On 8/21/2016 at 10:48 PM, Neist said:

Wait, you expect to have time for games? I certainly don't think I will!  

Edit: Classes start tomorrow! And my first obligation is my TA course. I'm nervous.

Well maybe not much anymore, but at the end of the day it would be a nice way to wind down a little! I also need something more than a Chromebook. It's a nice little notebook but it isn't really capable of much.

 

Classes have been going well for me so far. Nearly all of my stress so far has been from traveling to and from school. The buses don't run near my apartment at night so I'm probably going to have to take a taxi when I have night classes, because I really don't feel comfortable walking nearly an hour in the dark. I walked home today because the bus wasn't supposed to be going near my house at that time, then I see it go right past me! 

 

Glad to hear everyone is doing well so far.  

 

[janetjanejune]

4 hours ago, Neist said:

@hippyscientist I saved myself the trouble of never watching TV anymore, so.  TV is definitely easier than reading, but I find reading far more gratifying. I don't even have Netflix.

I'm pretty lucky in that graduate school won't be a huge adjustment for me. I have little hobbies else than reading, and I pretty much read the same sort of books I'm going to be forced to read.

In the same boat. I'm one of the few people I know that prefers reading over visual media. I've never used Amazon Prime. Thrifting is my weakness. Got great finds through Goodwill.

@sjoh197 That was a wild visual. Maybe chamomile tea will help with the weird dreams?

One of my roommates finally responded to my e-mail. Lo and behold, she's also trans! Seems like a cool person. Made my stress go down a tiny bit.

P.S. I'm buying white Christmas lights for my bedroom. It's cheesy but IDGAF.

Happy to hear about everyone's start. Keep up the positive vibes.

Edited August 24, 2016 by janetjanejune

[Danger_Zone]

@janetjanejune I think white Christmas lights indoors are pretty! It also gives you nice moody lighting.

[Pink Fuzzy Bunny]

Today I learned that this week I'll be getting my entire stipend for the semester in one check. Can't wait to set aside 30% for taxes!!

[Effloresce]

oh my gosh, my PC parts came a day early and I love it!!! Had some flubs after building..ie not checking if my gfx card was VGA compatible (which it wasn't) so I had to run out and buy an HDMI cable. theeen i bent the wifi adapter, so I sped to best buy at 8:45 when they closed at 9 to get a new one. but overall I'm in loooooooooove. And the mechanical keyboard is so clickety clackety and I wonder if I'm driving my roommate crazy lol!

we had the first official day of bio class (even though stats has been going on for 5 days already lol..) and the lecturer is awesome! 2 hours of biochemistry and I was engaged and paying attention for the whole thing. a few girls and I are going to a piercing parlor this weekend for piercings and I want a consultation for another tattoo, so that's cool. what's not cool tho is that i was diagnosed with bipolar II about a week and a half ago..still trying to process that.