The Post-Thesis Slump

I emailed the rough draft of my thesis to Brad last Monday night at like 9:00 after editing off (read playing on the internet and talking to lab-mates) and on all day. I still have some kinks to work out, and I really thought I'd get them taken care of last week. Instead, I somehow managed to be constantly busy without actually being productive. I mean, I did some Bio 101 stuff, but I haven't actually worked on my thesis since last Monday, which is crazy. I swear, I need to find a happy medium. I either push myself to work 10 and 12 hour days, or I slack off so much that I get about 1 or 2 hours of work done a day. I feel like I should aim for some middle number, like maybe 8 hours a day, the standard for people with normal jobs?

Speaking of jobs, after a LOT of thought about what the hell I'm doing this summer, I think I've figured out my short term plan. Defend in May or early June at the latest, and then throw all my shit into storage and drive down to Huntsville. Then, I hope to get a job at a temp agency so I can pay my bills until I get a real science job. It'll kinda suck being in Huntsville since none of my friends are there anymore, but I don't see a better solution. There wouldn't be any jobs if I was crashing in Cooperstown, and at least in Huntsville there will be actual stuff to do (actual movie theaters, music festivals, etc.). And Ames will be in Birmingham, which is only 1 1/2 hours away, so I may visit her a bit too.

The big glich in my plan is getting from Rhode Island to Huntsville. I don't mind driving 20-odd hours, I've grown up with it, as long as I have music to sing along to, I can drive forever, and I'm pretty sure I can avoid hotels by crashing at my godmother's in Virginia and Mike's in North Carolina (I haven't run this plan by Mike yet, I'm just assuming I can crash on his couch or floor). But I'm worried that I won't physically be able to drive the whole way solo. I've had to do physical therapy twice in the last two years for problems that have recently developed. And working 12 hour days for the last couple of months has probably not helped my back problems. I've driven to Cooperstown half a dozen times, and that's about 5 hours, and my back is usually pretty stiff when I get there. It's just because I can't change position when I'm driving. If I could switch off with somebody, I could do it, but I'm really worried that driving it solo would be incredibly painful and stupid. Unfortunately, most of my friends live in the real world and don't have summers off, so they can't drive back with me, even if they wanted to. I told Ames she should fly up and drive back with me so we could have plenty of sister bonding time, and she's thinking about it, but I don't know if she'll be able to. She might have a summer job working at a day care or nursery, and I don't know if she could afford to fly up anyways.

So that's my dilemma. I can't think of anybody who would want to drive back with me, and who would actually have a schedule open enough to do it. If anybody's got any suggestions, let me know.

Hmm...nothing else to really update on. Oh, I went to Boston Saturday night to help celebrate Lloyd's 30th birthday at a dueling piano bar. I always think of Mags and Spencer's wedding when I think of piano bars. Anyways, it was fun, but it was definately a different crowd than the last time I went to the piano bar. There were at least 5 bachelorette parties there, 3 or 4 30th birthdays and a few other birthdays, plus there was some college sports team that was there. It was weird, I felt like I was at a college bar because everyone's goals were to get drunk, get laid, and make girls dance with each other on the stage. And for some reason we attracted the sketchy guys on the dance floor. I mean, we all still had a good time, and it's always nice to get out of Rhode Island, it was just very different from the night we went for Michele's birthday. On the plus side, Amy and I listened to The Wedding Singer soundtrack and a Queen mix on the way back from Boston, and I've had "Somebody to Love" stuck in my head since Saturday night.