A Relaxing Sunday in the life of a grad student:

A wise soul once told me... you will never look forward to a weekend again, it only means being able to do more hours of work in a day.

7:45 Wake up. Today wake up is particularly cranky. Within fifteen minutes I am banished to the shower to end the wake up period of whining and begin my day.

8:15 Start up laptop. Check school email. Email advises to check syllabus and assignments on "Blackboard"

8:30 Cue heart attack. Suffered in silence.

8:45 Stumble downstairs and pour cereal in a haze of horror and disbelief.

9:15 Start reading. Frantically.

11:15 Allow self break to drink coffee and then rush to Office Depot for organizational materials to chart massive to-do list. Once home Line walls with pages from a desk Calendar. Prepare to color code. Get back to reading.

12:35 Allow self 15 minute nap. Utter necessity.


12:50 Back to reading.

1:15 Ramen break. Nap did not provide sufficient energy. Resist coffee.

1:45 Print out syllabus, get to that color coding of assignments across three month span.

2:15 Presumably: back to reading.

The plan:

By 3:00 Take break from reading to tinker with career goals essay.

4:00 Back to reading. READ MORE.

I don't see much change except for dinner.

The Honeymoon is over.

The honeymoon period is over. Over, I say!

I just returned from the most miserable, patience evaporating bus ride ever. While being on a crowded bus is unpleasant, being in a bus so stuffed that people start yelping (yes, imagine a frantic, desperate tone, like a dog) that the bus driver has to open the second set of doors because they can't possibly move to the front to get out, is another story.

I should have not got on this bus. No one could fit in the front doors so he opened the back. I (and others) were met with another solid wall of people but pushed onwards. Why? Because I had been waiting for nearly 20 minutes and was loathe to waste another 20 or more, totaling almost an hour of my time. Especially since the next bus was very likely to be just as jam packed. So I shoved myself on that bus.

And could not move enough to get out. Eventually, after crawling over people, squishing by them, shoving and squirming in an almost tear inducing manner (from frustration) I escaped.

This may have been less than pleasant on any other day but it came on top of a most trying afternoon. Today was my second day of orientation and while the first half was much like yesterday, the second half made me want to get up and walk out. I suffered through learning how to access my email and navigate the website, which I knew, with good humor.

Then we had to sit through a lecture on what plagiarism is. We learned that copying and pasting is indeed plagiarism. We sat through five slides of examples, with the exact passage side by side being told "doing this is plagiarism." We sat and sat through being addressed as if we were in high-school.

I felt like my time was absolutely wasted. Going through the subtler aspects of plagiarism would have been helpful. The less clear cut times, like using a phrase from popular culture that is commonly colloquial, yet has a source from a television show or movie. Things like that.

But no, we never went over that or even citing less tradition sources, another not always known topic. An acceptable topic at our level.

I know I can't copy and paste into my paper and not cite. I know. And I am angry I had to sit through a drawn out lecture on it.

And then go buy an 115.00 book. Trust me, I looked online. I scoured the internet. But it just HAD to be the 2011 edition. Which means no used copies.

"Discovering Computers 2011: Living in a Digital World."

I do not want to discover anything for that much money.

So I fumed my way over to the bus stop. Waiting almost 30 minutes.

And was greeted with the challenge of getting on and off a bus so crammed with people that I'm surprised the bolts didn't pop off and the sides explode outward.

Needless to say, I am cranky.

I now have a thing for goats.

I am back at my beloved coffee shop. It's logo is a goat with a cup of coffee. Where the cream and sugars are hangs a plaque on the wall that is titles "The legend of the dancing goats." I haven't read it, but you should know it is there. I don't understand it, but I enjoy the goat thing.

I have refrained from getting my chai for monetary reasons.

Oh, and I had orientation today. I am near giddy I feel so grown up. Oh how did no one ever tell me how very BABIED undergrads are? For four years I feel so independent, mature and elite. But oh how foolish I was! How many allowances those baby undergrads have!

For my program if I get below a B in a core course (which is 2/3 of them)I fail it and have to take it over. And lose my scholarship. And my work placement. And no, they made clear, a B- does not count as a B.

And late assignments should just not happen. No matter if it's a few hours late or a day late, a professor can refuse it outright. And we are not to question it. Nor are we to "haggle" about our grades.

Nor are we to be late. Of course they say that to undergrads too, but here, they mean it.

And here's a real great one: "Don't be needy!" They said it just like that. That's a direct quote. And oh did they go on and on about how we are INFORMATION SCIENCE students and really we should be able t find 99% of everything we need answered. Which well, is true.

I should be nervous, but instead I feel like I have entered an elite world. A world where people no longer are allowed to cut corners and sneak under the radar and get away with things. Missing class, being late, getting mediocre grades- no longer will be tolerated!

For example. Check in was 8:30-9:00, I walked in at 8:25 thinking I'd be the first or near first. I have always been ridiculed for being so early. I could have been there at 8:20 but I took my time. I was so happy to see a dozen people already there. By 8:35 so many of us were already there they just let us in to the auditorium for the 9:00 session.

I have found my people!

Also, apparently there is quite a difference between librarians and archivists. They were very careful to never just say "librarians" and always differentiated the two. I guess in the field it's not lumped together. So all, I am now in school to be an archivist- if you want to be accurate. Of course my masters will be in Library Sciences so I will technically be a librarian too. A special one.

Oh. And we have been told again and again that we are collaborated, service oriented people. We collaborate. There will be teamwork. At first I cringed. I abhor teamwork. I associate it with unequal division of work, being stuck with people of lesser skills, and suffering a group grade lower than what I am used to after doing the bulk of the work.

I am coming to understand I may be a bit of a snob. When it comes to slackers, I am a bit disdainful. I value motivated people who are always after a good reputation and career oriented.

So I am fighting my deeply rooted apprehension. And hoping this group proves me wrong and that I will be matched with intelligent, hard working, good communication skilled people.

Also, I conquered the bus. Amy- 1 Public Transportation -0.

Tomorrow I tackle day two of orientation.

It includes technology boot camp. That brings a shudder. Wish me luck all.

Chris arrives.

Hello everyone.

I am sipping one of the best Chai Lattes I have had. And I love my Chai. I know Chai. This is glorious Chai.

But I suppose it is more important to tell you that Chris arrived yesterday around four, safe and sound. We took a walk around so he could see all the businesses and shops and neighborhood. We bought fresh Italian bread at the local Bakery and had it with dinner (pasta and salad). He really loves being in walking distance of EVERYTHING.

Since then we have accomplished a lot. We bought more food in the strip district, where Munster cheese is 3.70 a pound, and meat is good and cheap at Wholey's. We then got more odds and ends at a discount grocery for great prices. I made my third trip to Target and got a desk and more curtains. And we got a scratching post for Chris' cat.

Since then Chris has been very busy putting things together, such as my desk, the futon, our new dvd rack, more curtain rod... things. He's pretty handy with tools. Which i a relief because while I could manage I would dread every second!

I learned how to make mushroom Ramen noodles actually very tasty by adding fresh veggies, today I added actually fresh mushrooms and matchstick carrots and I'm thinking broccoli would have been good too. This is exciting.

So we've had a busy day. Also set up an appointment to get internet in the house on Friday. Luckily I am a very close walk to a whole slew of coffee places with free wifi. Which is where I am now. I prefer this place to Starbucks, it's much bigger, tons of outlets and as you now know- a great chai latte.

So I am now updating once again, and searching for any and all information about my orientation tomorrow.And trying to figure out the bus schedule! Wish me luck, I can't help but be a bit nervous!

Okay, a lot nervous. I shall tell everyone all about it tomorrow. Or Friday.

Better get back home soon for dinner.

Liking it here.

Things I have done in Pittsburgh so far:

1) Made a deposit at my new bank.
2) Bought the best tickets left to see Phantom of the Opera with Chris at this gorgeous theater which is 5 miles (about a 10-15 minute drive) from my house:





I've decided I don't go out to see plays and musicals enough. Those I have seen I have enjoyed so immensely I have decided to take advantage of being in the city. I am surrounded by culture. I am ready to embrace it. I love Phantom and am extremely excited to see it performed in a very reputable theater! It was a small splurge but I am thinking well worth putting off some unncessary decorating for.

More discoveries:

I am a 10 minute walk from my local grocerey store, TWO independent theaters and my bank.

I am a 15 minute walk from the library which is very nice. I just got my library card. They have an absolutely fabulous selection, including dvds! We will never have to pay to rent a dvd again! There is also an abundance of computers and work places.

I am a 15-20 minute walk from an extremely large park filled with trails and walking paths.

I am a 20-25 (on the outside) walk from my job. I timed it today, and it's a walk down a gorgeous residential street that after about ten minutes in becomes very high class. You start seeing large well cared for homes with luxury cars in the driveways. All houses have gardens and the street is tree lined and pleasant. I decided I would walk to work every day the weather allows.

Though the houses are much more modest on our street and populated with younger people there are many nice gardens and porches with plants hanging on hooks, wind chimes and decorations of that sort. It's an extremely pleasant and nice neighborhood.

The houses on my street are small, some with grad students in the townhouses, but a few houses up they become single family homes with young families in them.

The nieghbors on both sides of me have introduced themselves upon seeing me, something no nearly as common in Worcester.

So far i am finding I have the best of both worlds, a 15 minutes drive into the heart of the city, twenty minute bus ride to campus, and the persk of living in a residential neighboorhood with lawns and trees and quiet.

i think I will have a good year here, and if possible, maybe even stay.

More moving adventure. Without the adventure.

So, the new place.

It's in overall good working condition.

It's far too big. But we aren't paying as much as it should cost so it's not like we're hurting for it. I just need to adjust my mindset because I am feeling silly for having so much SPACE.

Also, I had absolutely NO IDEA how much stuff it took to get set up. I had NOTHING a "homeowner" which I'm not but a new apartment renter isn't as catchy. Luckily my dad was prepared to get me all set up. With all those things I didn't know I'd need or didn't think of. We took two trips to Lowes. I have TOOLS and a step ladder and better lighting and extension cords, and adapters and lots of stuff. And he carefully talked to about half a dozen workers about exactly the best kinds of everything and what a newbie like me needed and thought of everything.

He also though of things I would have forgotten. Like a vacuum, a can opener, a drain catch thingy for hair in the tub, pot holders, a toothbrush holder...

Everything. He helped me note all the things the landlord needs to know about fixing or just about the condition of the apartment. Like the storm window that fell out onto my head while I was sitting on the floor looking for a screw. Yeah, I didn't have to go to the hospital...well...I should have but didn't. Yes, an entire storm window fell out at the top when I touched it by accident and came down on my head parallel to the floor.

But enough of that. PIcs now!

This is the kitchen. It's small. But ultimately, nice.



This is the living room, very spacious. First room you walk into.

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The dining room. Oh look, more space.



A view of the stairs and built in bookcases between living room and dining room.



No pics of upstairs for now, I couldn't get pics I was happy with. Maybe when we decorate and settle in I'll try again.

Adventures in a Penske Truck

The scene: One father and daughter. One 16 Foot truck towing a car.

Adventure One: Getting out of the driveway.

Driving a sixteen foot truck is manageable for a seasoned driver. Even one without too much experience with a truck quite that big. However, if you add a whole car on the end it quickly inches very close to UNmanagable. Place the truck and car in a narrow driveway on a street with cars parked on both sides at five AM and you got yourself in need of a miracle.

This is where my father and I found ourselves. About 27.65 seconds out of the driveway and the front left end of the truck maybe an inch from a car and the right wheel of the tow dolly maybe millimeters from a car. And so there was no way he was going forward...but going back was perilous too.

He looked very, very stuck. And at 5 AM, we couldn't start ringing doorbells asking people if those cars were theirs. And even if they were I'm not sure they could have moved them. So one of us is swearing, the other screeching and then...my dad has to try something so...

He backed up. But he forced the wheels of the tow dolly sideways with the truck and somehow...well, let's just say it was a miracle.

And THAT was the start of what should have been a 9.5-10 hour drive...and because a 16.5 hour drive. Little did we know it was a bad omen that would bring road work, detours, closed bridges, wrong addresses and driving a big truck in not big truck friendly places.

Adventure Two: The GPS goes haywire.

I cant say how joyous the occasion of returning the truck seemed. As soon as we could we detached the car and went off to get rid of the massive burden. So luckily, I got to hop in the car and follow dad. Along the way I noticed it seemed to be taking longer than it should have. I had a sinking feeling but wasn't about to call my dad while he was driving.

Soon we were heading up the Dusquesne incline, which is more or less a mountain. At the top there is a scenic outlook...with lots of cars and people. The road was so narrow due to parked cars dad nearly needed to be in the middle of it. I knew he was probably nervous.

Then...we headed right down. Down the winding steep steep road, filled with hair pin turns and switch backs where you cant see on coming traffic until they round the bend. I couldn't hear dad but I knew he was petrified, taking a truck like that with the tow dolly around those bends on a steep hill. I was sure something was wrong.

To this day I dont know why the GPS freaked out. He took a wrong turn and it just kept giving him odd rights and lefts from there and squawking "Turn around when possible" in utterly impossible places. Whcih is near everywhere for that truck.

Eventually he pulled over and I got it sorted. By a miracle. Another one.

Adventure Three: Where does the truck GO?

So I had dutifully called ahead as we'd be rturning it after business hours. I asked for very specific instructions to be sure we'd know what to do. I was told how to identify the location (By a large white garage door) and then the guy said I'd see lots of other trucks and to just find a space where one was open.

I could only guess we would pull into a lot. Some large lot. Right? No, we pull up to the building...in an industrial area with no retail places, and lots of warehouses and factories and such. And no lot. And no signs for "Truck return this way" Nothing.

We spot two even BIGGER trucks circling the block. I hail them down. Other renters.

With no clue. Everyone was near ready to throw up their hands. Should we just dump the trucks on a nearby side street? And hope they FIND THEM? Turns out thats what two or three others had done. We found three other parked trucks on a sketchy side street along the curb.

But there wasn't much room, without blocking other places garage doors. We were at a loss. There hadn't even been suggestions on where to find enough space to park!

Eventually the lot of us parked them near the others, after circling blocks and maneuvering the trucks around corners we didn't much care.

So I hope they found it. I certainly wont be held accountable if someone broke in and stole the radio. Or parts. Or slashed the tires. Or the whole damn truck disappeared.

So. Those are the adventures of in a Penske Truck. More to come.

Bad news.

Today I woke up and hit the ground running. I dropped off my car for a check up before leaving the area (responsible), set up an account with a more convenient and plentifully located bank in Pittsburgh (responsible), started cleaning my room so the floor will be clear and the dresser/ bureau will be ready to be moved (responsible) and went to purchase bathroom needs for my new place (responsible).

I had planned on writing a blog about how savvy I was feeling because I got a really chic shower curtain and bedset (room set) without breaking the bank. In fact, I was going to crow about how I was born to decorate. I returned from the shopping trip rejuvenated and began carefully wrapping up my doll collection for the move.

I was in the midst of wrapping Felicity (American girl doll) when the car shop called.

I expected maybe a few minor repairs to have it in tip top shape or to preemptively take care of things so I wouldn't have to in PA. I expected to have to shell out some money, it's an old car and I realize that, but no worse.

So when I got the equivalent of you may want to sit down for this...I still wasn't fully prepared for what was to come. It was just above "well, we took care of towing it to the junk yard for you." in terms of bad news.

I had been assuming it would more or less hold out a year. Just a year. It was all I asked of the car. And I had grown to love the car. But is has turned on me like an angry teenager, except, well, much older.

Apparently it is unlikely that i will get my year. Which was a nice way of saying, it is closer to a joke. Truth be told I make light of it now but I [s]almost[/s] had a full blown panic attack when they told me all the parts which were severely rotted. Oh and the problem with the anti lock brakes. (That's not scary. Oh wait. YES IT IS.)

Oh and about the parts that are now obsolete. So, when it goes (and it's going alright), that will be it. No easy fix. No fix. No.

And of course it could last 11.9 months, or 2 days. Or 3 months, or 5 weeks.

It's a time bomb.

And that's fine, in a sense any car could be. things break and nothing lasts forever.

But I will be very far from family and friends. I will be wholly independent. And I will be a very broke grad student making 0 income.

0 income.

How do you get another car on 0 income?

You take the bus. The unreliable, late, limited schedule, bus. This makes the bus RIDER unreliable, sometimes late, and limited. I do not like that.

Fine, I'll haul my groceries on the bus, my purchases, whatever. I'll stand outside in the cold and rain. People have to do this sometimes.

But the second I'm late or show up wet/soaked/not presentable, that damn bus will reflect on my reputation. And that, in my mind is absolutely horrific. Because I am always on time, always presentable. I am accommodating and flexible when a superior needs me to be somewhere. The thought of having to work around/suffer the consequences of a bus while trying to be a professional young lady has me in a fit.

Over dramatic? Sure, but it's my first move and first time away from home. I have responsibilities. And I have worries. Cut me some slack, it's pretty dire news for an already scared, nervous 22 year old girl.

I must have wracked up bad karma with my superficial attachment to the shower curtain. This shall be a lesson learned: if you get the urge to brag about your purchases, your car will suddenly be found to be rotted, obsolete and about to spontaneously combust.

Don't do it.

So, apparently the last entry was a bit of an unnecessary freak out. Maybe. It seems it may have had as much to do with the current cycle of the moon, the tides and time of month as it did with grad school.

I say this because I had a similar reaction when faced with the trials of parking in Cambridge, midday. I mean, I was pretty sure it was going to destroy my sanity and/or bank account. Sound familiar?

I think, perhaps, just maybe I was a bit over-dramatic.

However, I have now become an expert at searching out textbooks online. Perhaps insanely unnecessary distress does have it's upsides, albeit small upsides, but nonetheless...

Unfortunately, some textbooks are just outrageously expensive. And because these seem to be mysteriously rare (more like specialized) when they do come up used, the USED prices are all above the list price.

ONe title, for example is: Selecting and Appraising Archives and Manuscripts.

I'm guessing even as a textbook, it's not widely in use. Because not only am I in a library science masters program, but a specialized Archival track. Which not every LIS Masters program offers.

At first that stressed me out a lot.

Then I realized that I would just buy them for less new at the university bookstore, which has the list of books in stock and prices.

It came as such a shock that I would be able to get certain books for less NEW at the bookstore. No shipping and no inflation due to demand.

It boggles my mind. Sure, there are still sever $65.00 textbooks but that sure beats say, something like $87.00 for a used one.

So, I have calmed down thanks to the shifting of the moon/tides/passing of days.

Let's hope mother nature has pity on me the next time around and eases up on the emotional roller coaster.

In unrelated news, I have few pictures from recent shoots that I am pretty proud of (click for the full size photo):

Someone said I look exotic in this one. The idea that *anyone* could see me as exotic was strange but delightful.



This was a really cool shoot in that I was allowed to use someone's 1955 Thunderbird Convertible.

Terrified.

Perhaps I was absolutely, positively, utterly delusional about grad school. I must have been. Or someone has forgotten to sit me down and slap me in the face with the reality of what grad school means.

I sound like I've started the semester already, don't I? Well, the truth is, I have only gotten two innocent enough emails. One with a book list and dates each is to be read by in its entirety and the other with a fifteen page syllabus.

Class one: 11 books.

Class two: 12 books.

I will be taking four classes. At this rate I'll be up around 50 books a semester. And for the sake of being internet-classy, I wont spell out the financial portion of this panic attack. But let's just say, even buy them super use online is proving to be a horrifying, panic inducing task.

I don't know which is freaking me out more, the massive amount of money I am pouring into these books or the enormous task of somehow reading, comprehending, intellectually engaging with and remembering the contents of each.

I know tons of people pass through grad school each year. They manage. They are able to do it, stay sane and come out the other end with a magical job-earning piece of paper. So why does it seem to utterly impossible to me?

I'm having trouble just keep everything I need to get done to move straight, this stress is not needed and seems to be having this paralyzing effect on me. Kind of like deer in the headlights fear. Like that AHIMGOINGTOBECRUSHEDTONOTHING fear.

But, you know, I have always wondered how professors accrued the massive amounts of books in their offices and homes. I have always marveled at how their walls were just LINED with books. I used to think they must have been for reference, no one person could possibly have read all those books.

Now I know the answer. They went to grad school. That got them half. then they started their doctorates and wham. Other half.

End product: awe inducing library/personal collection of books.

I suppose that's one small thing to look forward to. I am bringing two book cases from home. And stealing Chris' bookcase. Sure, he has things on it. But apparently...I need it more.