California, here I come

In a few hours, I am going to the airport for an early flight to California to interview for a post-doc position.

It's an early morning flight, and it is easier for me to stay up really, really late than wake up really, really early, so I took a bit of a nap in the evening and am now staying up and getting ready to hit the road.

My bags are packed, my job talk is finalized (I will practice again before I get on the plane) and I am very excited.

I was looking through my jewelery box to find the right accessory for the trip, and I found this pendant. It was my mother's and now I think it will be the perfect thing to bring me luck!

hectic schedules

It's been a busy busy time around these parts.

Since my last post, I found out that I got the summer teaching job *YES!* I think it will end up taking a good amount of time for me to prepare for my teaching sessions, since there is alot of information, and I want to do the best possible job I can to help these pre-med kids feel as prepared as possible for their test.

Since I need to also devote as much time as possible to finishing my dissertation and graduating, I decided I won't get another part time job or anything. I reckon I can house/dog/cat-sit and sell stuff on ebay to build up some extra cash.

Also in the past week I have seen 3 Ph.D. defenses, 2 in my department, and one in another department. All were successfull, so there are 3 more Dr.'s out in the world now. Yay!

Today I practiced the talk that I plan to give for my post-doc search and perhaps even my own dissertation defense talk. In the past, my talks have been OK, but I havbe never felt like I had a good grasp on my data and its interpretation. Finally, at this talk I felt like I knew exactly what was going on and the audience definitely reacted kindly to that (well, those in the audience that managed to stay awake at least). The professors that had seen this talk in its infancy when not all the data was in and I was struggling with depression remarked on how much it has improved.

It is good to know that my internal feelings of improvement have been translated into how I am perceived by the external world as well.

One of them said that I should have no trouble finding a job if I take this data and put it into manuscripts. From their mouth to God's ears.

I have been thinking/worrying about this talk for the last few weeks, so it is such a relief to have it done. Now it's back to the writing! Woo!

getting it together

Finally this morning I managed to get over to the test prep/tutor place to try for a summer job. Things seemed to go well, so I go in next week for a proper interview and such. Part of the interview process is to demonstrate my teaching abilities by showing them how to do something.

So, not like "how the kidney works" or "the history of the paper cup" but like "how to make a sandwich".

Now the question is, what should I demonstrate? I want it to be easy and short, that I can easily explain on a dry-erase board, but also funny and interesting.

Some of my initial thoughts:

How to make a grilled cheese sandwich
How to change a light bulb
How to defend yourself from a zombie attack
How to make chicken soup
How to start a blog
How to mend a broken heart
How to plant a garden
How to party like it's 1999

Any other thoughts?

Also, today I managed to bite my tongue in the most agonizing way ever. I had gum in my mouth, and somehow managed to bite the underside of my tongue. Yes, the underside of my tongue. I am pretty sure that I bit part of the lingual nerve. The lingual nerve is on the underside of the tongue here:



Then it runs inside the jaw to join the mandibular nerve which eventually goes to a big nerve called the trigeminal nerve which is nestled near the ear canal and where the jaw attaches to the skull.



When I bit the bottom of my tongue, pain shot from under my tongue, along the inside of my jaw and up to my ear. Exactly the path of the lingual nerve. It's been about 10 hours since this tragic accident and it STILL hurts to move my tongue and I have a dull ache in my ear, almost like I have an inner ear infection. It's not debilitating, but it is quite annoying.

So, whatever you do, try to avoid biting the bottom of your tongue.

Summertime, and a livin' is needed

So, I am going to get my Ph.D. by the end of the summer, and if all goes well, I will be moving across the country to a fantastic post-doc in a different but related field.

That is my plan.

There are lots of things up in the air, though. Like whether I actually get the post-doc (it looks like a good possibility, but nothing is set in stone yet), when and how I am going to move, where I will live, how I will fit my trip to Burning Man in, etc. etc.

But, the most pressing issue is that while my next job will not start until the fall (August/September), my current job ends in May.

So, what am I going to do this summer?

Well, I can't say that I am dreading the cessation of my meager grad student wage. I did some math and it comes out to just about $9.50 hour after taxes. This is fine, and actually pretty good compared to some other grad student stipends (but very, very shitty when compared to what people with "real jobs" make 8 years after they graduate from college). And I am sure that it is a wage that people could easily live on as long as they didn't have to pay rent, car payments, had never even looked at a credit card, and never got sick or had tooth decay.

Rather than looking at the end of my grad salary as the gravy train pulling out of the station, I see it as freedom to make enough money to pay my bills and buy groceries without putting anything on a credit card. Oh, what joyous days they will be!

But how will I make this grandiose salary?

Honestly, I don't really know yet. But tomorrow I am starting the search for a summer job.

My first inquiries will be with the local test prep/tutoring places. With the whole getting a Ph.D. and being a mentor to current university students thing, I feel like I can bring some qualifications to the table. I am going to talk to the test prep agencies tomorrow, explaining my situation and need for summer employment, and in a perfect world they'd just cut me check for one hundred grand and I could pay off all my student loans and credit card debt by May 1st. Or, they could just give me a job.

I'd be willing to settle for the job.

If that fails, next week I will sign up for some temp agencies. I can answer a phone, use microsoft office products and Xerox like a motherfucker. I would be happy to be an office temp for the summer. Taking a little break from academia would be refreshing, I think.

Any other suggestions for a good, legal summer job?

Happy Easter

Well, my Maundy Thursday hand injury was not severe enough to warrant a photoessay. I feel a certain sadness tinged with relief. I'm sure you feel the same way.

I did some spring cleaning this weekend, and found about a dozen bars of soap in my linen closet. They are all small bars from hotel rooms and gift baskets. For some reason I have kept them, just in case a baseball team stopped by for a shower, I suppose.

I moved the soaps from the linen closet to a little dish near the tub, so when I run out of my current liquid soap, I'll grab one of the bars and use it. That way I can save money. Because I probably spend like 7 dollars a year on soap.

If I can keep it up, I'll be able to use the savings here to pay off my undergraduate student loans in 2000 years.

Hmm...maybe that's not the best way to look at it.