Third Time's the Charm

I'm attempting this whole blog thing again. I know. I'm dubious too. However, my Bander and Barista blog worked pretty well for the 'Bander' part, when I had things to talk about besides "I went to work and served coffee to some people." Likewise with my High-Functioning Bio-Nerd blog: "I went to work and did GIS things" just wasn't exciting enough to write about on any sort of regular basis.

So what's changed? I'm so glad you asked.

In mid-March, right before my birthday, I was accepted into the graduate program at Indiana State University as a Masters student and TA in the Biology department. I will be working on a project dealing with White-Throated Sparrows of the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York (ecology, genetics, evolution, behavior, biogeography, or some combination thereof), the specifics of which have not yet been ironed out. After several weeks of high-anxiety financial acrobatics, I have accepted the offer, notified my current employer, and decided on a start date. My advisor wants me to get in at least some field work this coming summer, before classes start, to get familiar with the study area and the lab's protocols. This means that I will be leaving my current job on June 15, driving up to New York, and starting field work around June 19. Now that the decisions and dates are final, I can start making plans, which has lowered my anxiety levels a little.

This means that I have essentially 2 months to wrap up my life here in Houston, save a TON of money to help get me through the (very very lean) next 2 years, and figure out logistics for a cross-country move.

So far, nothing has gone catastrophically wrong (as I knock on every wooden surface in the room).

Big Things that need to happen before June 15:
  0. Make a to-do list.
  1. Save a ton of money.
  2a. Find field gear in the garage.
  2b. Buy whatever field gear I don't have or isn't functional anymore.
  3. Wrap up work projects and document EVERYTHING.
  4. Arrange for housing in Terre Haute, if possible.
  5. Figure out travel logistics from Houston to Cranberry Lake, NY.
  6a. Box up whatever will fit in my car after field gear.
  6b. Box up whatever will fit in Dad's car for him to bring to me in August.

Progress on Big Things:
  0. Make a to-do list: DONE (preliminary)
  1. Saving money: on-target
  2a. Find field gear in the garage: not started
  2b. Buy field gear: in-progress.
      - Brother got me nice new rain boots for my birthday!
      - Mom gave me money for field pants. Ordered pair #1.
  3. Wrap up work stuff: not started
      - Just told my coworkers today. Staff meeting scheduled later in the month.
  4. Arrange for housing: in-progress
      - Talking to a guy about a room in a house. Slowly acquiring details. Looks promising.
  5. Travel logistics: started
      - Worked out approximate route and day break-down, looking into AirBnB prices in stopover cities.
  6. Box up life: not started

You now know as much as I know.

Also, the family-friendly-ness of my language and my stress/anxiety levels are inversely correlated. This means that, for the next 2 years, my ratio of swear words to normal words will likely be quite high. Swearing has been linked to intelligence in multiple studies though, so SorryNotSorry.