In response to Thucyditron's question
I feel bad only posting grumpy entries. Really, things here are pretty swell. But...
I was supposed to meet with my advisor on Friday, right after Mara left, at a time chosen by him. But he never showed up. Nor did he explain why he was not there (only that he "didn't make it back in time"). So I e-mailed him and set up a meeting for today, the same time that Terry was going to meet his advisor. I got to his office right on time, but he wasn't there. He appeared about a minute later, lunch in hand, and greeted me with, "This time it was you, not me."
To which I replied, "Waaaah?"
"We were supposed to meet at 11:30."
I told him that, actually, we were supposed to meet at 1:30, but perhaps I had mistyped the time in my e-mail, maybe hitting the one key too many times. He brushed off this response (probably not wanting to investigate the matter only to find out he had been wrong). He did, however, show me his appointment book to show he hadn't completely forgotten me. Yes, there I was, penciled in at 11:30.
After a very brief meeting, where he recommended three classes, I went to meet Terry at his advisor's office. Once he was done, we went to find one of his professors to ask about a class. The professor was busy (on the phone with a mortgage company), so we went to the library to kill time by looking up classes.
Turns out, one of the three classes recommended to me is identical in subject matter to Linear Algebra, with a little of the math from Physical Mechanics thrown in. No real point in me taking it, since I was already bored out of my skull taking it the first time. And the other two classes conflict with one another. Joy. So I've e-mailed my advisor, and maybe he'll e-mail me back sometime in the relatively near future. It'd be nice if I could enroll before all my classes are filled.
I'm also supposed to look into who I want to do research with. Since I'm privately (or publicly, depending on which fellowship you mean) funded, I'm not tied to any research group, and I don't have work obligations (like grading), so my advisor advised me to begin research as soon as possible. Then there's the studying for Qualifying Exams in January.
Terry has no such difficulties. He has three classes lined up (and probably grading or something similar to fill the rest of his time), and, since he's departmentally funded, he also has some flexibility on what research he does, though he is the student of one specific faculty member.
We start the 30th of August.
Also, Tyson chickens were 39 cents a pound (i.e., less than $2 for a whole chicken) at Schnucks this week. We bought three (the max) and cooked one this evening. And I made garlic toast, spaghetti, and chicken parmigiana for lunch. We eat a little better than Thucyditron. But just barely. We, for instance, don't have Big Gulps.
I was supposed to meet with my advisor on Friday, right after Mara left, at a time chosen by him. But he never showed up. Nor did he explain why he was not there (only that he "didn't make it back in time"). So I e-mailed him and set up a meeting for today, the same time that Terry was going to meet his advisor. I got to his office right on time, but he wasn't there. He appeared about a minute later, lunch in hand, and greeted me with, "This time it was you, not me."
To which I replied, "Waaaah?"
"We were supposed to meet at 11:30."
I told him that, actually, we were supposed to meet at 1:30, but perhaps I had mistyped the time in my e-mail, maybe hitting the one key too many times. He brushed off this response (probably not wanting to investigate the matter only to find out he had been wrong). He did, however, show me his appointment book to show he hadn't completely forgotten me. Yes, there I was, penciled in at 11:30.
After a very brief meeting, where he recommended three classes, I went to meet Terry at his advisor's office. Once he was done, we went to find one of his professors to ask about a class. The professor was busy (on the phone with a mortgage company), so we went to the library to kill time by looking up classes.
Turns out, one of the three classes recommended to me is identical in subject matter to Linear Algebra, with a little of the math from Physical Mechanics thrown in. No real point in me taking it, since I was already bored out of my skull taking it the first time. And the other two classes conflict with one another. Joy. So I've e-mailed my advisor, and maybe he'll e-mail me back sometime in the relatively near future. It'd be nice if I could enroll before all my classes are filled.
I'm also supposed to look into who I want to do research with. Since I'm privately (or publicly, depending on which fellowship you mean) funded, I'm not tied to any research group, and I don't have work obligations (like grading), so my advisor advised me to begin research as soon as possible. Then there's the studying for Qualifying Exams in January.
Terry has no such difficulties. He has three classes lined up (and probably grading or something similar to fill the rest of his time), and, since he's departmentally funded, he also has some flexibility on what research he does, though he is the student of one specific faculty member.
We start the 30th of August.
Also, Tyson chickens were 39 cents a pound (i.e., less than $2 for a whole chicken) at Schnucks this week. We bought three (the max) and cooked one this evening. And I made garlic toast, spaghetti, and chicken parmigiana for lunch. We eat a little better than Thucyditron. But just barely. We, for instance, don't have Big Gulps.