Plans

Well, I'm finally pretty much healthy now. Antibiotics are a wonderful thing. It's really great to wake up in the morning and feel like a "normal" human being instead of a walking zombie.

So, now that I'm feeling better, I can finally get started on gearing up for the candidacy exam. I've even started studying, not quite as hard as I'd like to have been by this point, but relatively hard considering I still have just over a month to take it. At this moment, I think that no matter what happens with the exam, I'll be sticking around State College for another semester. Hopefully I'll be able to pass at least one section of the exam, though. That would be great. I'd be extremely ecstatic if I passed both parts, but I'm trying to keep my expectations low. But I'll still be a Pennsylvanian for another eight months, although not in the same place I'm living now. I've come to the realization that living with people just doesn't seem to work well for me. It's mainly my insecurities and trust issues, which I'm completely fine with taking the blame for. It's totally not my roommates' fault that I just can't live with people. It's been this way ever since I was an undergrad.

Anyway, I'm already making plans for after the candidacy exam. I'm anticipating that I'll be so incredibly brain dead that I'll need a couple weeks to recover. So, I'm planning on going home for a bit. Most likely I'll be flying because I want to, really. It'll make my life easier once the time comes. However, actually making these plans is turning out to be a real pain in the ass. First of all, I have to consider ticket price, which has gone down since I looked this weekend. Then I have to consider driving to either Pittsburgh or Philadelphia to fly home to Wisconsin. PHL is cheaper by about $15-20 and has a direct flight to MKE. However, parking there long-term is $9 a day. I also need to consider tolls, gas money, and a hotel stay. PIT, on the other hand, has more expensive flights, most with layovers (the cheapest flight has a layover in Atlanta which makes no sense to me, since I'm flying to Milwaukee - nowhere near south of Pittsburgh). But long-term parking is only $6.50 a day. That will save quite a bit of money in the long run, since I plan on flying back two weeks after I fly out of here. And there are not tolls to drive to Pittsburgh. So, there are lots of things to consider, which I will probably do this weekend, unless I have a chance to think about them during the week. That's not likely with me studying and having to grade some quizzes. But, it could happen.

Well, I should really be off to bed. Tomorrow is another ungodly early day for me. Going to the 422 lectures is really helping me prepare for the dynamics section of the candidacy exam, but getting up before the crack of dawn is no fun, whatsoever. But at least I can escape a little early tomorrow, since I have therapy in the afternoon and I usually leave straight from there. So, with that I say good night!