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

[hippyscientist]

@Need Coffee in an IV I have a drawer for cables that I use regularly and another one where stuff that only gets used twice a year lives. It helps!
@Pink Fuzzy Bunny oooo might take you up on that! Have yet to really figure it all out but I love it so far. 

[Need Coffee in an IV]

OMG I"M SO ANNOYED. Ok one of my requirement for my fellowships is that I need to apply for external funding. Ok one of my bosses/professors was applying for a grant and included me on it. Doesn't count because I'm not spearheading the application, ok. Now I'm applying for this internship and I sent an email weeks ago asking if this counted. Haven't heard back until now and its doesn't count. Apparently external funding is a travel fund, a grant, a scholarship, or a fellowship. Not paid internships. How?! Its paid and its from an external organization (the Smithsonian). Blahhhhhhh! Now I have to restart my search.

[swil92]

Can't you just apply for a travel grant through whatever professional association heads your discipline? Like I can apply for travel grants from the American Psychological Association to help cover costs traveling to our annual convention. Would something like that work? 

[Need Coffee in an IV]

@swil92 Oh I will, thats what I'm now planning to do. I'm still applying for the internship, I was just annoyed at the faulty logic ha. I was hoping to do the kill two birds with one stone, but oh well.

[Neist]

7 hours ago, hippyscientist said:

That pizza sounds incredible! And good luck with the vegan/veggie thing. I have a lot of respect for people who can do it but I find my body needs meat. I feel so much healthier when I eat it. But I found out doing my elimination diet that by cutting out all the processed crap, my weekly shopping costs went down by almost half. I was spending $80-100 a week on food, now its closer to $40/50. So meat and veggies is cheaper for me than meat and veggies and crap! SOrry don't really know why I went on a side-track like that. Good luck!

 

I probably only spend around $120 to $130 on myself as is, but I'm not really satisfied with the crappy quality of meat I have to buy to make that work. I'll probably still cook a whole chicken every so often, because that's super cheap.

8 hours ago, Need Coffee in an IV said:

Good luck! Meat is expensive so I usually wait for it to go on sale and then buy it in bulk/freeze it. I'm trying to think of what vegans actually eat. I mean I know pasta is one biggie but then you are very limited in stock/sauce because almost everything has some form of animal by product to enhance it

 

Thanks! Vegans eat a lot of beans, quinoa, nuts, and similarly dense foods. Lot of greens, too. The only reason I haven't tried the diet sooner is because you have to be relatively careful if you want to ensure that you're not giving yourself malnutrition. 

[Need Coffee in an IV]

@Neist Ah ok then!

I'm sad, my family dog passed away. He was 16, I had him since I was 7. I don't even really remember my life without him. I knew it was coming, I'm just happy he passed away peacefully. He wasn't in pain at all and only his eyesight was kinda bad. I wish I could have said goodbye in person. I was able to say it over the phone. My family said he wagged his tail and licked the phone. I'll be fine but man 2017 kinda sucks already ha.

[Pink Fuzzy Bunny]

12 minutes ago, Need Coffee in an IV said:

@Neist Ah ok then!

I'm sad, my family dog passed away. He was 16, I had him since I was 7. I don't even really remember my life without him. I knew it was coming, I'm just happy he passed away peacefully. He wasn't in pain at all and only his eyesight was kinda bad. I wish I could have said goodbye in person. I was able to say it over the phone. My family said he wagged his tail and licked the phone. I'll be fine but man 2017 kinda sucks already ha.

A lot of people don't understand the pain of losing a pet. That isn't a small life thing. I'm sure your dog understand that you weren't able to be there. Take care of yourself.

[hippyscientist]

59 minutes ago, Need Coffee in an IV said:

@Neist Ah ok then!

I'm sad, my family dog passed away. He was 16, I had him since I was 7. I don't even really remember my life without him. I knew it was coming, I'm just happy he passed away peacefully. He wasn't in pain at all and only his eyesight was kinda bad. I wish I could have said goodbye in person. I was able to say it over the phone. My family said he wagged his tail and licked the phone. I'll be fine but man 2017 kinda sucks already ha.

*hugs* you're allowed to feel sad about this! Take some time to process. 

We're back in the lab full-time tomorrow. I've been watching football all afternoon. Great combination!

[Need Coffee in an IV]

@Pink Fuzzy Bunny and @hippyscientistThanks, that means a lot. He was/is family! Luckily I have a supportive bf who has been bringing me tissues and food all day. Its a part of life and I'm happy he was a part of mine for so long.

[rhombusbombus]

oh no, @Need Coffee in an IV!

at least you still got to say goodbye and your dog got to hear your voice.

 

I've been snuggling with mine. Even extended my break for a little extra time with him before I have to go back to school/ work.

Have any of you decided to make some changes from last semester to this one? I'm trying to schedule my time/ direct my energy more so I'm not sitting in an office wondering what I should do.

I've thought about bullet journaling to see if it helps, but it  looks like so much work

[rhombusbombus]

ALSO! Has anyone just been informed that they need a $90 book a couple days before the semester starts?!!!

I'm trying to get it from any library first, even though it might be a good investment for me to get the book anyway.

[nevermind]

49 minutes ago, rhombusbombus said:

ALSO! Has anyone just been informed that they need a $90 book a couple days before the semester starts?!!!

I'm trying to get it from any library first, even though it might be a good investment for me to get the book anyway.

 

nope, but I have my readings to do before classes next week. Thankfully, I'm taking a history and theory class and I've taken tons of theory, so it's mostly re-reading. I had bronchitis and then a really nasty cold over break, so I haven't been as productive as I would've liked, but hopefully it means I have a healthy semester.

[Pink Fuzzy Bunny]

1 hour ago, rhombusbombus said:

Have any of you decided to make some changes from last semester to this one? I'm trying to schedule my time/ direct my energy more so I'm not sitting in an office wondering what I should do.

I'm trying to be more conscious about how I spend my time. Working for 30 minutes without looking at my phone/Reddit/Facebook, for instance, and then taking a 10 minute break. Otherwise I think I worked for three hours when I really only worked for like 5 minutes

[MarineBluePsy]

On 1/2/2017 at 3:01 PM, Need Coffee in an IV said:

OMG I"M SO ANNOYED. Ok one of my requirement for my fellowships is that I need to apply for external funding. Ok one of my bosses/professors was applying for a grant and included me on it. Doesn't count because I'm not spearheading the application, ok. Now I'm applying for this internship and I sent an email weeks ago asking if this counted. Haven't heard back until now and its doesn't count. Apparently external funding is a travel fund, a grant, a scholarship, or a fellowship. Not paid internships. How?! Its paid and its from an external organization (the Smithsonian). Blahhhhhhh! Now I have to restart my search.

I'm confused.  If you're funded by this fellowship, then why do they want you to apply for additional funding?  Does it not cover all of your expenses or do they just want you to get practice applying for things?  Also what happens if you don't get the additional funding you apply for, is there a penalty with this fellowship?

2 hours ago, rhombusbombus said:

Have any of you decided to make some changes from last semester to this one? I'm trying to schedule my time/ direct my energy more so I'm not sitting in an office wondering what I should do.

I've thought about bullet journaling to see if it helps, but it  looks like so much work

Even though I maybe spent about 6 hours of the weekend studying it still sucked up so much of the weekend that it didn't feel like a weekend.  Instead I've shifted my schedule so I have a full weekday to study in addition to the studying I do before or after class.  I'm also going to spend less time in my department because I can't stand those people.

Outside of school I've joined a women's social group to hopefully make some friends or just have an excuse to get out of the house.  I'm also going to try exercising in the morning, because trying to do it in the evening did not work at all last semester.

2 hours ago, rhombusbombus said:

ALSO! Has anyone just been informed that they need a $90 book a couple days before the semester starts?!!!

I'm trying to get it from any library first, even though it might be a good investment for me to get the book anyway.

This kind of thing gets on my last nerve.  Professors know students have lean budgets, textbooks are expensive, and the stock isn't always endless.  All required textbooks should be listed 2 months in advance and there is no excuse for this not to happen.  

[Pink Fuzzy Bunny]

@MarineBluePsy I'm with you on the morning exercise. Plus you feel outrageously productive when you're working out before the sun is up! And that feeling carries over through the rest of the day

[hippyscientist]

3 hours ago, rhombusbombus said:

Have any of you decided to make some changes from last semester to this one? 

Essentially, be more proactive with my research. It's picking up the first couple of months this semester and I only have 2 classes so I will have more "free" time which I'm going to make sure I spend on research. The other thing I really need to be conscious of is limiting the about of coffee and hot drinks I purchase during the work week. I spent way too much of my salary on teas and coffees last semester which is just STUPID because we have free tea and coffee in the lab! Oh and get more steps in during the day!

[Neist]

3 hours ago, rhombusbombus said:

ALSO! Has anyone just been informed that they need a $90 book a couple days before the semester starts?!!!

I'm trying to get it from any library first, even though it might be a good investment for me to get the book anyway.

 

Nope! But it wouldn't be surprising, either. I'm not sure how other history departments work, but I don't see a syllabus until the first day of class. And unsurprisingly, we read a lot of books. The faculty members typically only assign easy-to-locate material for the first week or so, but it's a little bit annoying, I admit. If classes last semester were any evidence, I'll need to pick up 12-15 books per history class. Library classes are less. And the history class books, while often cheap when bought second-hand, can be costly. A few in the $50-ish range wouldn't surprise me.

3 hours ago, rhombusbombus said:

Have any of you decided to make some changes from last semester to this one? I'm trying to schedule my time/ direct my energy more so I'm not sitting in an office wondering what I should do.

 

To be honest, my schedule is going to be so different this semester, I'm going to have to readjust. I'm taking two classes instead of three, and like @hippyscientist, I want to be a bit more proactive with my research in this downtime. I want my coursework to be a necessary evil, not a time-consuming everything. I see graduate school as a time where I need to polish my academic voice, so to speak, and I need to do research to accomplish that.

 

[MarineBluePsy]

And now I have finished Sons of Anarchy.  Hmmm.  I can't quite explain it, but I got tired maybe a third into season 6 and by season 7 I was like oh just please end already.  The finale made sense, but is somehow not satisfying.

[Need Coffee in an IV]

@MarineBluePsy I don't have to get the funding, I just need to apply. Their reasoning was that way they could help other students? It didn't make much sense to me but luckily I don't have to get it to still receive my fellowships

@rhombusbombus Thats what I'm telling myself, thanks though!

I'm in DC with my mom, yay!

[Pink Fuzzy Bunny]

2 hours ago, hippyscientist said:

Essentially, be more proactive with my research. It's picking up the first couple of months this semester and I only have 2 classes so I will have more "free" time which I'm going to make sure I spend on research. The other thing I really need to be conscious of is limiting the about of coffee and hot drinks I purchase during the work week. I spent way too much of my salary on teas and coffees last semester which is just STUPID because we have free tea and coffee in the lab! Oh and get more steps in during the day!

Ugh, same. There's a little cafe that sells Starbucks drinks in the physics building here. So easy to go for a pumpkin spice latte after a hard morning (even though the price still makes me flinch). I even bought a coffee press for the office but it's hard to keep bringing milk to school, and black coffee is ew. 

[hippyscientist]

14 minutes ago, Pink Fuzzy Bunny said:

Ugh, same. There's a little cafe that sells Starbucks drinks in the physics building here. So easy to go for a pumpkin spice latte after a hard morning (even though the price still makes me flinch). I even bought a coffee press for the office but it's hard to keep bringing milk to school, and black coffee is ew. 

See we even have milk and cream and sweeteners and a coffee machine and a chemex and everything. It's just silly! But it was a nice social break to walk to the shop with my friend, have a gossip, head back and be productive again. We work in the same lab so we try to limit our fun talks to when we're not physically in the office so we can get work done! Just need to stop purchasing things when I go for the walk to the shop.  And at least PSL season isn't eternal right?

[nevermind]

3 hours ago, Pink Fuzzy Bunny said:

Ugh, same. There's a little cafe that sells Starbucks drinks in the physics building here. So easy to go for a pumpkin spice latte after a hard morning (even though the price still makes me flinch). I even bought a coffee press for the office but it's hard to keep bringing milk to school, and black coffee is ew. 

 

Black coffee is great! You should go to Manndible and get Gimme! Coffee by the .lb for your french press! I've ordered it and had it shipped to me  

[Pink Fuzzy Bunny]

5 hours ago, hippyscientist said:

See we even have milk and cream and sweeteners and a coffee machine and a chemex and everything. It's just silly! But it was a nice social break to walk to the shop with my friend, have a gossip, head back and be productive again. We work in the same lab so we try to limit our fun talks to when we're not physically in the office so we can get work done! Just need to stop purchasing things when I go for the walk to the shop.  And at least PSL season isn't eternal right?

UGH exact same problem here. My closest friend here works in the same lab and it's so refreshing to take a walk to a coffee shop and chat for a bit on the way. And once you walk in, it's hard not to buy a little treat  If you figure out a way to stop this urge, let me know!

2 hours ago, nevermind said:

Black coffee is great! You should go to Manndible and get Gimme! Coffee by the .lb for your french press! I've ordered it and had it shipped to me  

I keep forgetting that you're familiar with Cornell!! I'm not really a coffee fan truly, so the taste of Gimme! is lost on me. However, if you ever want coffee with what may be a lower cost of shipping, let me know, I'll pack some up and send it to ya.

[nevermind]

12 hours ago, Pink Fuzzy Bunny said:

I keep forgetting that you're familiar with Cornell!! I'm not really a coffee fan truly, so the taste of Gimme! is lost on me. However, if you ever want coffee with what may be a lower cost of shipping, let me know, I'll pack some up and send it to ya.

Haha! Thanks for the offer but I usually do a bulk order and get free shipping! You don't have a grad lounge with a fridge to keep milk/creamer in? My office was in White Hall and we had a communal faculty/grad student fridge on one of the floors. I just assumed other departments had the same luxuries ?

[MarineBluePsy]

You guys are not going to believe this......the shit storm that I did not intend to create with the faculty over that half a point I am failing that class by just got worse for the whole department and that half a point may be completely irrelevant.  Why?  Because my department may not be interpreting the University guidelines correctly.  Apparently over the holidays the professor in question consulted the guidelines which indicate it is the cumulative GPA that matters, not the individual course grades and shared this info with my advisor.  My cumulative GPA for the semester is high enough to meet the University requirements and maintain my funding, so the question my advisor raised is where is the guideline backing up the requirement for specific grades in individual classes that our department has been citing all this time?  Good question, because I haven't seen that written anywhere either.  This was brought to the attention of the dean who agrees that perhaps our department has been doing something very wrong for who knows how long lol.  So now there is going to be some kind of meeting to review the matter and the extra exam I am supposed to take to earn half a point is on hold until further notice.