Trippin'

Tomorrow morning, I depart sunny Southern California for apparently sunnier New York. Our temperatures have been pretty solidly 15° cooler than theirs for the last while. That's Fahrenheit; I don't care enough about Canadians to do the Celsius conversion.

Here is my approximate summer itinerary for those who are interested:

12 June: Depart LAX at 12:45 PM; arrive ISP at 10:50 PM
13 June: Depart Huntington for CommieCamp
22 June: Depart CommieCamp for Boston
27 June: Depart Boston for NYC/Huntington
06 July: Depart Huntington for Boston/Providence
19 July: Depart Boston/Providence for NYC/Huntington
25 July: Depart NYC/Huntington for Boston
27 July: Depart Boston for Huntington
29 July: Depart ISP at 07:00 AM; arrive BUR at 11:25 AM

If you, my readers, will be in any of those areas at or around those times, please contact me! After I return to LA, I'll still have two months of summer, so I plan to see people and have fun. Unfortunately, I will be desperately poor and also possibly on jury duty, so you'll have to come visit me if you want to get together.

I don't believe I've shared my summer funding woes. Let me begin with the disclaimer that I am VERY grateful for summer funding, and I am doing quite well, better than most graduate students I know. That said, I will be making $2,000 less than I make in an academic quarter. To put it another way, I usually have $X for 3 months; I will now have $X-2,000 for 4 months. And I have to fly cross-country and take innumerable bus trips (see above) on that money. Plus, I have no roommate for August, which makes my rent/utilities slightly higher, and every little bit makes me that much more nervous.

My plan right now is to eat nothing but jasmine rice, still reliably $.79/pound at my local Whole Foods. Or, alternatively, hire myself out as a personal assistant/chef/pool boy to some rich folks in the Hills. Or both. I could have a nest egg!