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

[hippyscientist]

Deviating away from the tragedies this past week. Why on why would you think it's a good idea to put up and down scaffolding inside a building where we are working?! My office layout is open plan, with two storeys surrounding an open foyer. The scaffolding is in the foyer and the builders have the radio on, clonking around with the scaffolding pieces and yelling at each other. It is SO distracting. Add in the other PhD students standing around gossiping and I have literally no peace and quiet to work in right now. 

My advisor is on bed rest and pretty ill, so I'm being supervised almost entirely via email from my co-supervisor who is 7 hours ahead of me. Confusing and exhausting doesn't begin to describe it. Good news though, my health insurance covers the MRI I have to have which hopefully means I might get a clearer picture on the injury as the physiotherapist isn't confident in his initial diagnosis. 

To cope with noise and supervisor and general life stress I bought double stuff oreos for like a dollar. Thank god for junk food.

[pterosaur]

On a more pragmatic note, have any of you looked into renter's/student insurance? I'm not sure if I'm still covered by my dad's home insurance, and in retrospect this is probably something I should have had when I had an apartment in undergrad. And now.

But anyways, this recommendation was in the info I got from Harvard about housing: https://www.collegestudentinsurance.com/

I've never dealt with insurance stuff before. Anyone have experience with them? Or with others? Or any other suggestions?

[hippyscientist]

14 minutes ago, pterosaur said:

On a more pragmatic note, have any of you looked into renter's/student insurance? I'm not sure if I'm still covered by my dad's home insurance, and in retrospect this is probably something I should have had when I had an apartment in undergrad. And now.

But anyways, this recommendation was in the info I got from Harvard about housing: https://www.collegestudentinsurance.com/

I've never dealt with insurance stuff before. Anyone have experience with them? Or with others? Or any other suggestions?

I know my new university has a tie-in with Liberty Mutual for discounted insurance, and that's what I'll be going for. Check and see if your new school has affiliations - do they have a credit union with ties? (I'm writing this generally, I see you've already mentioned what Harvard suggest). When you're looking at it you need to consider the cost it would be to replace everything (furniture, electronics, clothes, cooking stuff, DVDs, etc). What do you want covered? Basic insurance? More comprehensive? My tip is to write a rough list of everything you own & would want covered and guesstimate the overall cost. Shop around, convenience is good but also customer service is vital. Do you want to bulk it with car insurance for example? Multiple insurance plans with the same company normally reduces overall cost. Hope that helps a little bit.

[sjoh197]

51 minutes ago, pterosaur said:

On a more pragmatic note, have any of you looked into renter's/student insurance? I'm not sure if I'm still covered by my dad's home insurance, and in retrospect this is probably something I should have had when I had an apartment in undergrad. And now.

But anyways, this recommendation was in the info I got from Harvard about housing: https://www.collegestudentinsurance.com/

I've never dealt with insurance stuff before. Anyone have experience with them? Or with others? Or any other suggestions?

Our current apt and the apt we're moving to in August both require a minimum 100,000 renter's insurance policy. It costs about $200 a year, but covers any kind of fire, theft, whatever. It's definitely worth having... even if you're not required to. Not all policies cover flood... so getting one that does is pretty good if you live in a place that floods. 

[pterosaur]

BRB making a list of all my possessions. Should take about 10 minutes...

[Danger_Zone]

I haven't even thought about insurance.. There's too much adult stuff to do, good grief. 

[sjoh197]

Adulting is hard. 

I almost shit myself yesterday when I found out that my partner couldn't reach me last year when he signed up for his life insurance policy through work... so he ended up putting his brother as his beneficiary and then forgot to change it, but had told me I was the beneficiary. We spent an entire god-damn year where if he died I would get stuck with his bills and not get a single penny to pay them off.  

I told him it was the stupidest thing I had ever seen him do in the 4 years we were together. I was sooo righteously pissed. I'm already in charge of all his bills and bank accounts and stuff...but Jesus, I didn't realize that I also need to comb over all of his benefits and enrollments too. :/

[Cat_Robutt]

Thanks for all the support y'all  It is really appreciated.

@pterosaur Some kinds of renter's insurance can be bundled in with car insurance; we have Statefarm and our car + renter is one big package. That way, we just have to do one payment, which makes it easier when dealing with all kinds of other external/internal stressors like school!

And @hippyscientist sorry your workspace is so loud! It's bizarre that they aren't providing an alternate space in which to work!

June is almost halfway completed, y'all....wow.

[marycaryne]

@Cat_Robutt UGH don't remind me. I'm nowhere near ready. My husband is still looking for a job in Florida, we are still looking for an apartment, we have to figure out all the school stuff for our kids... All by the end of next month. Can I magically fast forward time to where that's all done? And to where we are already moved as well? Because I am NOT looking forward to that either. I hate moving. I don't care about a new place to live...I just hate packing everything up and driving forever and unpacking everything.

But my anniversary is in 10 days so that's cool.

[hippyscientist]

@Cat_Robutt nope. no. nope. I'm in denial. It's not halfway through June I have WAY too much stuff to do in the little time left. Thanks for the commiserations about the workspace, it's always noisy, just today was much noisier than normal even my noise cancelling headphones couldn't cope.

@marycaryne happy anniversary for 10 days time!

Insurance is one of those things that is necessary but everyone forgets about. So freaking important. You never know when you might need it. Also @sjoh197 I'd have been so pissed at that! 

Yoga is amazing. I came home uber stressed and I just did a 45 minute practice and feel like a new person. Nothing can stop me  

[pterosaur]

@Cat_Robutt - I don't have a car, though. But my bike is currently my second most-valuable possession!

Also, turns out I own more stuff than I thought. Aaand half of the value of everything I own seems to be electronics.

[sjoh197]

54 minutes ago, pterosaur said:

@Cat_Robutt - I don't have a car, though. But my bike is currently my second most-valuable possession!

Also, turns out I own more stuff than I thought. Aaand half of the value of everything I own seems to be electronics.

Half of the value of our entire household is probably sitting on three stupid bookshelves full of stupid $400 manuals and $100 textbooks. Got at least a few thousand dollars worth of books in there between the 2 of us. 

[Danger_Zone]

@marycaryne Happy early anniversary!

@hippyscientist Glad to hear yoga works so well for you! I wish I had the means to do yoga right now, I'm pretty stressed at the moment... Do you use online videos or DVDs or..?

[Danger_Zone]

I just bought my plane ticket!! I'm really excited but my nerves are starting to set in more. New country, new school, new place to live, this is too much!

[Pink Fuzzy Bunny]

6 hours ago, pterosaur said:

On a more pragmatic note, have any of you looked into renter's/student insurance? I'm not sure if I'm still covered by my dad's home insurance, and in retrospect this is probably something I should have had when I had an apartment in undergrad. And now.

But anyways, this recommendation was in the info I got from Harvard about housing: https://www.collegestudentinsurance.com/

I've never dealt with insurance stuff before. Anyone have experience with them? Or with others? Or any other suggestions?

It may be covered by your dad's home insurance! Mine was covered under my parents' when I was in undergrad, but as a grad student I had to buy my own. I think this is because the insurance company my parents use is local only, so they don't have coverage out here in New York. Definitely look into it.

[Effloresce]

still sick  

i'm also being very indecisive about housing situation..there are a lot of house shares and a lot of them seem really great, but i'm really bad at choosing!

[MarineBluePsy]

10 hours ago, pterosaur said:

On a more pragmatic note, have any of you looked into renter's/student insurance? I'm not sure if I'm still covered by my dad's home insurance, and in retrospect this is probably something I should have had when I had an apartment in undergrad. And now.

But anyways, this recommendation was in the info I got from Harvard about housing: https://www.collegestudentinsurance.com/

I've never dealt with insurance stuff before. Anyone have experience with them? Or with others? Or any other suggestions?

I love renter's insurance!  For about $200 a year I have way more coverage than I generally need and its for replacement costs.  I've never added any of the riders for floods or earthquakes, but am looking into it now.  After nearly dying everything is making me a bit paranoid.  I'm not familiar with that particular company, but a quote should be free.  Get a few, compare them, research reviews, and then decide.  Some policies even offer special riders for computers, jewelry, collectibles, etc.

8 hours ago, sjoh197 said:

Adulting is hard. 

I almost shit myself yesterday when I found out that my partner couldn't reach me last year when he signed up for his life insurance policy through work... so he ended up putting his brother as his beneficiary and then forgot to change it, but had told me I was the beneficiary. We spent an entire god-damn year where if he died I would get stuck with his bills and not get a single penny to pay them off.  

I told him it was the stupidest thing I had ever seen him do in the 4 years we were together. I was sooo righteously pissed. I'm already in charge of all his bills and bank accounts and stuff...but Jesus, I didn't realize that I also need to comb over all of his benefits and enrollments too. :/

Sooooo.....you're set up as his Power of Attorney too right? 

3 hours ago, Effloresce said:

still sick  

i'm also being very indecisive about housing situation..there are a lot of house shares and a lot of them seem really great, but i'm really bad at choosing!

Well what are the options?  We'll help!

[hippyscientist]

6 hours ago, Danger_Zone said:

@marycaryne Happy early anniversary!

@hippyscientist Glad to hear yoga works so well for you! I wish I had the means to do yoga right now, I'm pretty stressed at the moment... Do you use online videos or DVDs or..?

I have a mat at home and while very cramped provides enough space to get in a practice when I feel like I'm going to combust. I use youtube videos if I want a guided practice - last night I used https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDQNqZMv1V0 Davids videos are great as they have more of a meditative element, whereas if I just need a good stretch I'll go for something like Yoga with Adriene (https://www.youtube.com/user/yogawithadriene). 

Totally understanding that feeling about it all setting in. Like you're really excited but there's a little quiet doubt that's saying "are you sure?". 

[hippyscientist]

I DON'T NEED SURGERY! I don't need an MRI! Another 6-8 weeks and I might be functional again yay yay yay yay yay yay yay. Plus something clicked on the project. I'm doing a little happy dance around the office.

[Danger_Zone]

@hippyscientist That's awesome news!!

Also thank you for the yoga suggestion, definitely going to check out that longer session. My family's house is just super cramped so I don't know if I have the room right now. 

[hippyscientist]

49 minutes ago, Danger_Zone said:

@hippyscientist That's awesome news!!

Also thank you for the yoga suggestion, definitely going to check out that longer session. My family's house is just super cramped so I don't know if I have the room right now. 

You should have space. I am doing it down the side of my bed literally 2 feet by 6 feet. I can't do a lot of the side to side stuff but it's enough to get a relatively good practice in. 

Edited June 15, 2016 by hippyscientist

[Cat_Robutt]

23 hours ago, marycaryne said:

@Cat_Robutt UGH don't remind me. I'm nowhere near ready. My husband is still looking for a job in Florida, we are still looking for an apartment, we have to figure out all the school stuff for our kids... All by the end of next month. Can I magically fast forward time to where that's all done? And to where we are already moved as well? Because I am NOT looking forward to that either. I hate moving. I don't care about a new place to live...I just hate packing everything up and driving forever and unpacking everything.

But my anniversary is in 10 days so that's cool.

You're going to FSU, right? May I ask what your husband is interested in? I grew up in the area and may be able to put y'all in contact with people depending––I did communication/media, so that's my field. If I can do anything to help please let me know! Also Congrats!!!

20 hours ago, pterosaur said:

@Cat_Robutt - I don't have a car, though. But my bike is currently my second most-valuable possession!

Also, turns out I own more stuff than I thought. Aaand half of the value of everything I own seems to be electronics.

Ohhhh well then that changes things! I hope you get it sorted out! And now you have a cool list of what you have, which could come in handy.

@hippyscientist Yes, thanks for the yoga tips! Now I can do yoga without being embarrassed about how inflexible I am.

Edited June 15, 2016 by Cat_Robutt
left out text

[hippyscientist]

57 minutes ago, Cat_Robutt said:

 

@hippyscientist Yes, thanks for the yoga tips! Now I can do yoga without being embarrassed about how inflexible I am.

I'm literally the most inflexible person ever - I just got told by the physio that half my knee issues come from ridiculously poor flexibility! That's what I love about yoga, it's not judgey (at least not at the places I've been...but then I have very thick skin too). I suggest working through the Yoga With Adriene 30 day yoga challenge or yoga camp. They're wonderful, get you in the habit of practicing regularly and she throws in easier days and more challenging ones, plus they're designed for beginners. 

 

[rhombusbombus]

My apartment needed us to have renters insurance and i got mine seperate from my roommate through my bank. 

Yall! I got my parking pass and student id today! Financial paperwork was almost done but i forgit to bring my ss card. D'oh!

 

AND I just found out that my fellowship isnt taxable so saving for studio just got easier! Im just gonna throw that extra moola in my COD to collect interest!

 

My fortune cookie from panda express said that ill be receiving some pleasant news in the future. I dont know whats more pleasant than this!

[Effloresce]

16 hours ago, MarineBluePsy said:

Well what are the options?  We'll help!

well, there's a duplex that's 10 mins to campus -- but the bedroom is upstairs and the bathroom is downstairs and that bothers me a bit!

then there's a chem student that wants to room with me, but is still indecisive about a place whereas i've kind of made up my mind about an apartment complex i'd like to live in. i guess i could forgo the stress of waiting on other people and put down a deposit at the complex, but they have an income to rent ratio thing and i don't currently have a roommate...

so now i'm wondering do i advertise for one? and hope they have lots of common room furniture (since i don't have much) or are at least willing to go all HGTV on a new apartment with me?