Friday, July 31, 2009
We have arrived!
Wow, so far we abso-freakin'-lutely LOVE Denver! What a neat place, and we haven't even seen most of it. J and I found an awesome place that is near the light rail, so I can commute to work downtown easily and it's near a really cool street with coffee shops, restaurants, pet supply store and even a garage/auto repair shop!
I'm still wrestling with corrections and revisions. The current snafu is converting from old Word (no online pdf converting service recognizes Word '07) into a pdf file. The text moves around a bit, which moves figures and captions. Of course the free online converter (courtesy of the National Institute of Health and the National Library of Medicine) is slow and takes about 15 minutes to convert my massive 234 page document into a pdf file. Then I review the pdf, try and predict what changes are needed, predict how to make those changes in Word so they look right in the pdf, convert, wait 15 minutes and do it over again. And of course we're in Mountain time now, so it's early afternoon back in SC and Clemson shuts down at 4:30. Ugh. I don't think they'll take away my degree for this, but I'd rather not tempt fate.
Upcoming post preview:
Template change?
Previous post highlights?
Driving 1800 miles in a Penske truck full of stuff, towing a '92 Tercel, being followed by a '04 Focus with 1 wife driving and 2 cats periodically sleeping and howling
Getting to know Denver
I'm still wrestling with corrections and revisions. The current snafu is converting from old Word (no online pdf converting service recognizes Word '07) into a pdf file. The text moves around a bit, which moves figures and captions. Of course the free online converter (courtesy of the National Institute of Health and the National Library of Medicine) is slow and takes about 15 minutes to convert my massive 234 page document into a pdf file. Then I review the pdf, try and predict what changes are needed, predict how to make those changes in Word so they look right in the pdf, convert, wait 15 minutes and do it over again. And of course we're in Mountain time now, so it's early afternoon back in SC and Clemson shuts down at 4:30. Ugh. I don't think they'll take away my degree for this, but I'd rather not tempt fate.
Upcoming post preview:
Template change?
Previous post highlights?
Driving 1800 miles in a Penske truck full of stuff, towing a '92 Tercel, being followed by a '04 Focus with 1 wife driving and 2 cats periodically sleeping and howling
Getting to know Denver
Labels: big moments, cats, Denver, moving, road trip, South Carolina, writing
Friday, July 03, 2009
Freaking out
Just got done reading this gem of an article from the NYTimes about how the unemployment rate is 9.5%, the worst in 23 years, and the fact that this is the economy in which I'm looking for a job. We're planning on moving to Denver, which I just calculated will cost about $2300, but we'll have all our stuff and enough money saved up to live for 2 to 3 months. CO has a stronger economy right now, especially compared to circling the drain SC with a top 3 unemployment rate in the nation, and it just seems like a really cool place to live. Southwest flies out of there, so I have a cheap way to get to B'ham if a family emergency comes up, or want to see my folks this fall. Plus J and I want to get out of SC and the South and experience a real winter.
So far our plan tentative plan is to load up the U-haul and head towards St. Louis, where PoP has graciously offered a place to stay (I think and I hope the offer still stands!) on Sat. night, then after lunch or so, head to Omaha and see J's sister and newly moved Mom, then probably Monday or Tuesday, head to Denver with 2 chemists, 2 cats and a small houseful of furniture.
Of course all this hinges on my defending my dissertation successfully on July 20th, and getting it formatted, reviewed, and printed at least a week before that and then the same process after, then we'll move. Yikes. Send any positive thoughts you can spare my way. The small upside is that I'm mostly done with my writing, so I actually have a bit of free time so I can physically exert this stress away!
So far our plan tentative plan is to load up the U-haul and head towards St. Louis, where PoP has graciously offered a place to stay (I think and I hope the offer still stands!) on Sat. night, then after lunch or so, head to Omaha and see J's sister and newly moved Mom, then probably Monday or Tuesday, head to Denver with 2 chemists, 2 cats and a small houseful of furniture.
Of course all this hinges on my defending my dissertation successfully on July 20th, and getting it formatted, reviewed, and printed at least a week before that and then the same process after, then we'll move. Yikes. Send any positive thoughts you can spare my way. The small upside is that I'm mostly done with my writing, so I actually have a bit of free time so I can physically exert this stress away!
Who Links Here
