(no subject)
So I purchased tickets for the trip to starscape yesterday :) I'm happy that Duane now seems at least a little bit excited about the trip, as opposed to just going to meet my old friends as some sort of thing he needs to do. The party is going to be interesting, though, as we don't really *do* anything anymore, so we might take a small blanket and curl up and take a nap part of the way through it! There's no way I'm gonna be able to stay up that long. I booked the tickets through Amtrak, as I just hate to fly. For a while there I forced myself to do it, just because I thought that I'd get used to it and the uncomfortableness would fade away, but it didn't. The last time I flew was about a year ago, and the pilot came out and told us all that there were weather problems and he just wanted to let us know that there would be a pretty good deal of turbulence. I started crying and really almost couldn't get on the plane, and it was worse because I was with a co-worker (and current roomie)who flies all the time and swears that I'm crazy. It's honestly less of a fear of dying as it is just some major dislike of being closed into this tiny capsule and having no control over being able to get off if you really need to. With a car, plane, or bus you can have them stop if there's an issue, or you can get off at the next stop, which is only a few minutes away. On a plane you're stuck in this tiny little seat, and (if you're like me), you're doped up on things so you don't puke or panic, and it's not a great feeling.
I don't feel bad about having train tickets some of the time, as a) they are often cheaper and b) the *experience* is much cooler. People talk on the train and interact way more than on planes, in my experience. There's also the fact that I generally have a lot of time, and not a lot of money, so that works out. However, when other people ask me about it I do really tend to feel embarassed. It's something that I want to work on one day, but just have absolutely no money to do so right now. Anyway, enough of that. A train trip it is, and one with my sweetie. Hopefully it'll be cool :D
My roomie & I went to comcast to straighten out the cable thing. They're leaving the cable on, not charging any fees for that, and I got a new cable modem and we got some discount so that our internet will only be 21.95/mth for the first 3 mths! That all worked out better than I expected, so I'm thrilled. Our phone situation worked out as well, and I got an extra 15% discount on my future bills for being a university employee.
Classes are winding down, and I sent a manuscript off yesterday -- the one from my thesis that's been sitting around for 1.5 years! Hopefully that will turn out well. I've got 2-3 others that I think I can put together, and if just a couple of those get accepted I think that will bode well for me on the job market for next year. I hope, and we'll see.
I don't feel bad about having train tickets some of the time, as a) they are often cheaper and b) the *experience* is much cooler. People talk on the train and interact way more than on planes, in my experience. There's also the fact that I generally have a lot of time, and not a lot of money, so that works out. However, when other people ask me about it I do really tend to feel embarassed. It's something that I want to work on one day, but just have absolutely no money to do so right now. Anyway, enough of that. A train trip it is, and one with my sweetie. Hopefully it'll be cool :D
My roomie & I went to comcast to straighten out the cable thing. They're leaving the cable on, not charging any fees for that, and I got a new cable modem and we got some discount so that our internet will only be 21.95/mth for the first 3 mths! That all worked out better than I expected, so I'm thrilled. Our phone situation worked out as well, and I got an extra 15% discount on my future bills for being a university employee.
Classes are winding down, and I sent a manuscript off yesterday -- the one from my thesis that's been sitting around for 1.5 years! Hopefully that will turn out well. I've got 2-3 others that I think I can put together, and if just a couple of those get accepted I think that will bode well for me on the job market for next year. I hope, and we'll see.