Bullets (sans Butterfly Wings)

Just a few notes on my week:

Had another doctor's appointment on Wednesday to confirm what tests had shown. Resulted in getting referrals for two more appointments with specialists.

Sat down with a car salesman on Tuesday and decided that, yes, in fact, they are no fun to deal with. Hopefully tomorrow morning goes better. If not, I may still buy something anyway. Got pre-approved today for a loan.

Settling in at the new place continues. We got Internet/cable turned on this week and it was nice to watch parts of two Jazz games this week, as well as having Internet. Caught last week's Lost. Still one week behind.

Investigated noisy desktop. Looks like I've got a bad fan motor on my power supply. Might call for some hardware-style nerdiness. Not really my forte, but doesn't seem like it's too crazy of a thing to replace.

Had a planning meeting with some friends to plan a vacation. Looking at possible Caribbean cruise in August. Still waiting to hear on family vacation. Hopefully PTO doesn't become an issue.

Still dealing with clean-up/clean-out issues at the former apartment. Because I'm the one that management trusts they want me to do a walk-through with them on Tuesday next week (the 31st). Just found out that one of my roommates can't move until then. Also, he's the one with two cars, two motorcycles and a snowmobile. Somehow I'm guessing that might not all be out by Tuesday afternoon. Let's hope so.

Can't remember if I mentioned this here or not already, but I DID get final approval on my dissertation from my supervisory committee, so now I'm down to just getting approval from the Thesis Editor's office. Unfortunately, I also need signatures from two people who happened to be out of the country until next week. Hopefully by middle of next week I can get that all printed and dropped off for initial review.

Why drag it to the curb...

when you can have people come pick it up at your house?

At the apartment I just moved out of we've got some furniture left behind that no one wants to take with them. So I stopped by last night, took some photos and then posted them to craigslist under the "free" category. For the futon that none of us wants, I literally had at least 15 emails in the first hour. And other people were also willing to take away my old desk and a loveseat that no one wanted. Now the people I promised them to better show up and bring some muscle. I'm not giving stuff away for free just to have to move it myself.

I moved (and other assorted ramblings)

For those of you who only follow my life via my blog (does that statement categorize anyone?), you should know that I moved last week to a pretty sweet abode that affords me a spot in a garage and a spacious living room with a brand new sectional. And no, I didn't buy this home, but I'm only paying a smidge more than what I was paying at my old place, so hopefully I can start saving up for buying important grown up things like a new car, a place of my own, and possibly more medical care (a topic for another day).

However, due to my move, I do not currently have internet access at home, so I'm posting this from work (after my work hours for the day, mind you).

More from the good and exciting news front, last week my supervisory committee gave me the thumbs up on my last draft of my final chapter and I now have the green light to go to the Thesis Editor and receive a thorough pen-lashing about tabs and spacing and page numbers and who knows what else. Hopefully nothing too drastic. So, probably by the time I'm walking this Spring, I will actually have finished doing whatever needs doing to be really graduated.

Good times.

Where snow shacks go to die

I know I haven't been blogging much lately. I've had a lot on my mind, but not much that I feel like blogging about, between boxing up stuff to get ready for my move next week, and a variety of medical tests (had blood drawn 3 times this week). Anyway, in the midst of packing and running packing-related errands today I swung by this place I saw last night to take some photos of some Rainbow Snow snowcone shacks in storage/retirement. Maybe they pull them out again come summer.

Admiring the View

One of the things I might miss when I move is the view from my window, that looks out over a little valley with an expressway running through it, and the tree (someone once said it was a flowering pear, but I'm not expert) right outside as well. I woke up this morning to find that it had snowed considerably overnight and it made my tree look like it was a cotton plant.


I've taken a variety of photos of "my tree", as I call it, in the 2 years I've lived here and today I made this mosaic of them, using the mosaic tool on fd's flickr tools page.

Just an Update

My twice-a-year blogger brother recently chastised me for not blogging enough lately, so here's a quick update on my life:

• Working full-time, but things are kind of slow right now for me, as I wait for other, busier people to have time to decide how they want me to do the work they've assigned me.
• Due to persistent abdominal/side/back discomfort/pressure/pain, I'm having trouble sleeping most nights (though not last night, thankfully). I have an imaginary chain of paper loops in my mind, counting down the days until my doctor's appointment under my new job-subsidized health insurance coverage (six!)
• I'm thinking hard about buying a new car, but first I need to register my current car under my name, as my parents recently "sold" it to me (for $10) so that I could trade it in or sell it. Not sure if the time/money to have it re-inspected, registered, get new plates, etc. will pan out to be profitable in the end or not, but let's hope so. :)
• Going to be moving in a couple weeks. Excited about a change of scenery. Not excited about packing and moving, but it should be a good time to dump some stuff that hasn't been unpacked in the two years since I last moved.
• Sent a draft of my last dissertation chapter to my committee chair last Thursday. Haven't heard anything back yet. Hopefully I'm getting close to finishing that up. I'm meeting with him today for work-related reasons, so maybe I can ask about it there.
• Enjoying the slightly warmer weather we've been having, and looking forward to spring.