la suite...

working on the few revisions i needed to make to my dissertation, printing the final stuff, and today, i'll go have it binded. working also on the report i need to send to each of the participating school director, and on the article i want to send to TQ. and then i'm packing too, of course.

i still need to:

- send the paperwork about graduation + the work permit + new address to the lawyer
- get a certified check in canadian dollars for first month's rent
- get my driving records from the DMV
- call aol
- type and print (3 copies) my two lists of boxes (1. what's in the truck, 2. what comes with me)
- get the cats' health certificates
- call my car insurence
- send 20 postcards (devinette)
- call the power company
- find someone to clean before i leave the country
- say goodbye to 200 people
- get an internet connection in canada
- write chapter 1 of the book
- get the graduation stuff ordered and verified
- clean and empty my office

- have the oil/filter + tires checked on my car and change the windshield wipers
- send individual report about my research to all administrators
- call my phone/internet provider
- call the school about health insurence
- return fox' dissertation and margie's books
- buy an air mattress
- work on book proposal and send call for chapters asap!
- check what's going on with the nnest interview
- call the credit bureau
- close my many banks accounts except for one
- cancel my many credit cards except the amex
- call amex to get a new card in canada
- email my dissertation to the two psych guys
- verify that my credit history arrived safely
- ask about how to pay my rent in july and where my mail will be kept
- send my syllabus to Adrian asap!
- buy some kind of screen for the car / cats
- have a transcript sent when i graduate
- buy mac programs while they're cheap

this list may grow longer with time...

bye bye

my other blog doesn't work :(

anyway, i am not sure what i should do with this blog, because i like to have an almost "private" place where i can just complain or write short and meaningless stuff about my life, and i like that some people can read it because it's in english, unlike the other one. maybe i'll keep it alive for a while just to keep in touch with some dear friends. let me know what you think.

i went to the great big north and got my work permit at the border, one less thing to worry about! i was really overwhelmed with the size of the city at first and i think it's going to take a while before i feel comfortable there. it's very much like new york: very busy downtown and then huge, spread out neighborhoods, some nice and some less nice, some interesting and some creepy... i started feeling a little better when i found an apartment after a few exhausting and discouraging days. the place is very nice (indoor parking, gym, sauna, golf, etc.), on the 20th floor, and right by the lake (and the expressway, haha). and 3 blocks away from chinatown, yumm!

i also went to the university, hoping to find someone that i knew or to talk to the HR people or someone who could get me my new email address, or office number, or something... but didn't find anything useful and everyone was gone. i was ready to leave when i suddenly met my mentor (which i didn't know but she recognized me, not too many small, read-headed, walking-with-crutches chicks around town, i guess). we talked for a few minutes and she was very nice. then i left town!

i am still nervous about living in that city. it's not just that it's big (i've been to chicago, los angeles, and many other big US cities and felt perfectly fine), it's also that it's very "intense" and crowded and people drive like... new-yorkers i guess ;)

news

got the phd, got the canadian approval, might be able to get the full permit at the port of entry TOMORROW!

this blog's name is finally appropriate (but its death might be imminent)! thanks to all of you, and in particular Xiaoye, Scott, Aca, Kiara, and Musarde for your support :)

the truth finally comes out...

my visa request was never filed. we don't know (or won't tell) who made a mistakes somewhere. so it was (re)filed on thursday afternoon (again), with a "priority" label on it, except that the person who's supposed to take care of it is on vacation for a few days. so it's like "priority after i come back from my vacation." or maybe "the person who is on vacation for a few more days will take care of it... because the rest of the people working here will be on vacation all summer."

so i still don't know when (if) i'll get that first approval.

i still don't know if i have to send my passport to detroit.

i still don't know if i can spend a few days there to find an apartment next week.

i still don't know when i can ask the movers to pick up my stuff.

i still don't know if i should ask for an extension of my apartment lease (for an extra $300).

i still don't know what my brother will do in canada for a month if i can't be there in july.

i still don't know when (if) i'll get the second approval.

i still don't know if i'll be able to start working on the 1st of august.

i could continue this list for a few pages... but it's maybe simpler to say just this one thing: I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING AND IT'S DRIVING ME INSANE!

dammit!

i don't see how this work permit thing is going to work. even if i get the first approval now, i still need to wait 6 weeks at least for the second approval, which takes us right to the very end of july. and i just realized something absolutely horrible today: i might (must???) need to send my PASSPORT together with my application, which means that i won't be able to leave the US until i actually HAVE the permit, which means that i won't be able to go to canada in a week to find an apartment :( which means that i won't be able to find an apartment until my job actually starts. what am i going to do with my stuff??? how am i going to move my stuff??? am i going to arrive there on the first day of work with all my stuff in a truck and no place to put it??? i am shaking, and i don't think i'll be able to sleep for a long time!

i'm leaving town for a few days, which doesn't help... oh god, this is not good!!!

almost nervous

i'm working on some revisions and articles. the defense is in a week. today's the first time i feel some anxiety, a little bit of panic. not much, but it's here. i think it might be more because of the still-missing work permit than because of the dissertation defense, and also because i've started packing and i'm trying to find an apartment there already, and it scares me a little to be going to such a huge city. but anyway, i hope it won't last because it's not fun.

i have a hotel reservation there from the 15th to the 20th.

i hate big cities!