Three Posts in One

Now that I've somewhat recovered from studying non-stop for at least three weeks, I have several things to write about.

1. Candidacy Exam Take 3

Yesterday was, what will definitely be, the last time I'll ever have to take the candidacy exam. I'm just so relieved that it's over. I was starting to crack under the pressure of it all. However, I actually think I did pretty well on it. Usually that would be a bad sign for me, because (especially in grad school) when I usually feel great coming out of test, I get it back to find out that I did horribly. Not this time, though. What really helped me out was going over the thermo class notes, and especially working through all the problem sets. The best thing was that one question on the candidacy exam was assigned on a problem set to undergrads this semester. And since I had worked through them, I knew that I could really nail that problem. That's the reason I'm content. It always helps when you see a question that you know you can do. So, the least I expect is to conditionally pass. At least, that's what had better happen. I've put in too much time here to be shoved out the door. And I know I'll have Ray in my corner, too, provided that he's actually around when the faculty meet to discuss the results.

All in all, I finally have some confidence that I will be able to continue on to get my PhD. And it's really nice to relax, finally, after being completely stressed out for the better part of the last month. I actually forgot what it feels like to not have stress, which is incredibly sad now that I think about it.

2. Immigration

Last night I was too exhausted to basically do anything, so I plopped on the couch and just laid there most of the night, flipping through channels until Grey's Anatomy came on. I ended up watching part of Bush's speech on immigration. The thing that really surprised me is that I agree that something should be done. It is very liberal of Bush to want to do something like this, since the Republican Party basically is for big business. I have a real problem with companies that bring in illegal aliens just to get some cheap labor. The same thing goes for factories that move operations to another country. All the upper echelon people in any company are looking for ways that they can line their pockets. I know that's jaded and cynical, but it's true for the most part.

Even though I agree with Bush that something should be done, I don't know if I agree with the way he's planning on going about it. First of all, he has a plan. Considering that he went to war with Iraq with basically no strategy nor plan to win the war, it surprises me that he carefully worked out a plan on this. I think it's a good thing, but he should have been doing something like this since before we went to war.

There are some steps in his plan that seem, at this point, like they'll be next to impossible to actually execute. He brought up having tamper-proof cards for immigrants that use fingerprints or retina scans or something of that nature. Now, I'm not sure if this is already being done in places, but it sounds like a lot of labor would need to be done just to implement this idea.

I also have a problem with this guest worker plan. I know he said it was not amnesty, but it really sounds like it to me.

One other thing that kind of pissed me off is that he wanted to uphold the ideals of America being a melting pot and that all people should be equal and blah blah blah. I may be paraphrasing a bit (or possibly putting words in his mouth). But that sentiment goes completely against one of his platforms. Basically he says that anyone can come into the country and have all the rights that Americans have, which I'm not saying is a bad thing. But, it does contradict his "moral issues" about gay marriage. So basically he's saying that anyone can become an American, but if one is gay they won't get the same rights that all other people do. Maybe I'm reading too much into this, and maybe I'm not. I just feel that Bush is creating a double standard here.

I do think that this whole issue needs to be resolved, and I know that this is basically a way to remind people that he's a good man so the red states will continue to support him and keep Congress in Republican hands.

3. Loan Consolidation Companies

This is just a rant about getting so many phone calls from companies wanting to save me money on my loans. That's all well and good, but it's gotten to the point where I screen my calls, for the most part. But, I usually figure that telemarketers (which is basically what they are) will not call after a certain time of night. For example, at about 8:50 my phone rings. Usually that would be Mom calling me, so I picked up. I knew I should have hung up when I heard the delay before someone started talking to me. However, I stayed on for too long and ended up having this guy trying to convince me to re-consolidate my loans. So, I basically cut him off by saying that I have already consolidated my loans. Of course, that doesn't stop him. He keeps going on as I'm saying, repetitively, that I'm not interested. I then told him that I'll be doing it through the company with whom I've already consolidated my loans and I wasn't interested. So as I'm continuously trying to shut him up, he goes on to say something to the effect of, "So you're just going to stick with what you know and not see what else is out there." So I said yes I am. Seriously, does he really think he's going to win any customers with that kind of attitude?

I just don't get it. How many damn student loan consolidation companies are there in the country. Considering I usually get a phone call from one every other day and they all seem to say that they're a different company. I'm tempted to start writing down names when I pick up just as a little experiment. This reason is why I'm very tempted to get caller ID on my land line. It's not like I get that many calls from non-telemarketers to begin with, but it would be a lot better than screening my calls.

The other thing I'm tempted to do is when I do happen to answer my phone when it's a telemarketer is after they ask if they can speak with me (and typically butcher my last name) I'll tell them that he just dropped dead. Or something to that effect. Maybe that would get them to stop calling me.

Anyway, those are the three things I've been wanting to post about, and now I'm done ranting, at least for now.