cleanliness
Nothing too exciting to report. I had a good weekend. Having a clean apartment makes an incredible difference in my productivity and general well being. There haven’t been stacks of dishes or piles of clothes or clumps of cat hair since I cleaned in preparation for J’s visit. Admittedly, that was only a week ago, but for me this is significant. I’ve tapped into a good routine; not just with cleaning, but with other day to day activities. Little things like moisturizing before bed and fitting in some reading time instead of watching junk online. I’ve also been sticking to my study schedule, so if everything continues as planned, I won’t have to cram during exam week. I might order a 6-month subscription to UWorld, so I can start doing some practice Board questions (although a lot of people say 6 months is overkill). Hitting the gym at some point would also be ideal.
In an effort to spend less money on eating out, I cooked a lot this weekend. This wasn’t a complete success because my oven died, and the maintenance people haven’t been able to repair it. They’re ordering some special part, but if that doesn’t work out, I’m getting a new oven! In the mean time, there’re a ton of school related events involving food going on this month. Yesterday, for example, I had a sushi dinner with my advising group. Today, my rotation PI took me out for lunch (Vietnamese food). On Thursday my program’s holding a Winter Dinner at some fancy place downtown. And Friday I get to take out visiting applicants to a delicious French restaurant down the street from my apartment (courtesy of my program, again). Yah. I’m pretty much set food-wise.
The meeting with my rotation PI went well, by the way. It wasn’t nearly as uncomfortable as I imagined. This guy has on multiple occasions been described as "creepy." Rumor has it that when he speaks with females, his eyes tend to wander. To be honest, I don’t get that vibe from him. He’s incredibly enthusiastic, almost pushy, in his recruitment of graduate students he’s taken an interest in. But not in that way. I think he’s simply hungry for talented people to join his lab. Still, all the ultra-friendly emails and lunches do feel a bit awkward, and I was relieved we didn’t run into anybody I knew at lunch today. But the conversation was pure shop talk. Assuming this guy’s creepiness really is a misunderstanding, I think he’d make a great mentor. Graduate students need an advocate, and this guy’s enthusiasm would be a killer asset. Not that my PI from last summer wouldn’t advocate for me, but he’s definitely a very mellow guy in comparison. There’re many other things to consider, including possible thesis projects, lab dynamics and so on, but I’ll wait until I’ve actually completed both rotations to make the final pros and cons list.
Oh, one last not-so-pleasant piece of news from this weekend – I’m pretty sure I have an impacted wisdom tooth. FUDGE.