Well hello all! It has been a while....I guess I let myself go on a slight sabbatical!
So let me catch all you precious readers up with what's going on....
I believe the last time I wrote it was around January and I was either still at home, or just getting back from home. At that point in time I had decided to join Match.com and try it out for a month. That's when I met The Pilot. I don't think I was on Match for more than a week before he messaged me. I'm not going to lie, I got pretty excited at first, because he looked a little like my most current ex (at least from his profile photo. I don't really think so anymore). Also, I saw that he loved the water and had a Master's degree from Embry Riddle! I was in!
So The Pilot and I talked for a couple weeks and finally met up for drinks at a small bar across from my old apartment. It was funny, because before he walked in, "Don't Stop Believing" came on. I found it quite coincidental, seeing as I had made the catch phrase on my profile on Match.com: "Just a Small town girl livin' in a lonely world." After a few drinks and getting to know each other a little bit, we went for a walk on the beach. And being a good girl, I ended the date at 10pm without a kiss or anything. The second time went out, The Pilot picked me up and we went to this cute Italian restaurant on the beach. Honestly, it's been so long, I can't really remember all of the details. One date led to another and after dating casually for a month, we finally made our relationship official. So that's one new thing to tell you guys!
Also, I had a wonderful birthday this year....and by wonderful I mean it started out great and ended nightmarishly (yes, I just made that up)! A group of friends and I went out to this great beer brewery which was fun on Friday to start my birthday weekend off. My parents came in the next day! Unfortunately Sunday is when my birthday started to go downhill....that's the day I found out my shower was leaking into my closet and my $80 pair of boots were RUINED! I was so PISSED! I had only gotten to wear them for a few months...and only a few times out of those months, because you all know how God awful the heat is in FL! That night, I had a nice birthday dinner with the parents and we planned on going Mountain Biking in North Miami the following day.
Monday rolls around and we head out to some mountain biking trails. We had a fairly good day....biking all around the park, taking my parents on the novice trails, because I don't think either one of them could have made it through an intermediate...Hell, I barely can! We had been out for about 4 or 5 hours and were heading back to the car, when I notice that my front driver's side window is smashed! 'What the hell?!' I think to myself. I go to the car, open up the door, making more shattered glass fall on the floor, and examine the inside of the car. Nothing's our of order there, nothing's gone. I make sure not to leave valuables in the open....wouldn't want to tempt anyone. Then it clicks...I need to check the trunk! That's where my mom and I left our purses! Bingo....was my thought process right on, because as soon as I pop the trunk I notice the absence of both of our purses. At this point I'm in shock and my Dad had gone to get my mom to tell her something was wrong. She thought that he meant I had fallen and hurt myself.
Thee both come back and I am MAD AS HELL! We get the bicycle rental people to call the park rangers and have them come over. I'm getting angrier by the minute thinking about how I just got a new iphone 2 months ago and it's been stolen, let alone my eye glasses, checkbook, debit card, etc. But I really felt bad for my mom....she had all that....credit cards, whatnot. But that was fine....those can be cancelled, those are replaceable! But what wasn't was her engagement and wedding rings, which she had taken off and stowed in her purse! 30 years of memories...30 years that they symbolize...gone!
We had to call the police, fill out police reports, deactivate everything. It was a disaster! And to think, the next day I was going to take them to that same park to go kayaking....not anymore!
So that's how my birthday and the day after went....at least The Pilot bought me pink roses for Valentine's Day, a candle and Patriots license plate for my birthday.....but still, it was horrible!
The bad news didn't stop there though:
My shower leak was still not fixed after two weeks, so I found a new place and moved out. A place further North....away from Miami and all those scumbags! Apparently this has been happening a lot lately in Florida all the way from Jacksonville to Miami.....they think it's a group of at least 25 people who make stops at parks close to I-95 where they know people will be away for several hours. There's not doubt in my mind that we were being watched that day! I can't wait til Karma gets them...it's just a matter of time before they get caught and when they do...I wish HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE things on them!
Anyway...I moved. And on top of everything else....a month later I found out I had Identity Fraud. Great!
Moving on! Sea turtle season started in March! I'm always excited for that! I love being out on the ATV in the morning with wind whipping through my hair, the smell of salt in the air, chasing the ocean.....roping off nests, and soon I'll be finding hatchlings!!!
This year, so far, I have accomplished starting to mountain bike, taking surf lessons, bought a guitar and I am still taking lessons for that....hmm...OH I FORGOT! I went skydiving the weekend before my birthday with a friend!!! OMG...It was amazing....I was scared shitless, but as the small plane started to ascend, the higher I got, the calmer I felt. I don't know why, but I guess I just let myself give in to the fact that it was really happening! I had a great experience and I would definitely do it again! I actually think the plane ride was the scariest part!
You've also missed my Grad school melt-down after finding out my third set of primers for my project (and now fourth) don't work. I really hate my advisor and I'm starting to hate my project. My advisor is such a flake and the advice he gives always sends me on a wild goose chase. So this last time when I re-designed my primers, I used outside resources...a post-doc I know, her friend, papers (always papers), etc. No use....they still didn't work! So I'm going to confide in you about my plan!:
I have decided that if my primers didn't work this fourth time (which they haven't and my primers....they are what I need to even get data when I do PCRs/qPCR. If I don't have them, I don't have anything!!), then I am going to ask my advisor to switch from a thesis to a capstone. See, my grad program gives you two options....you can either do a thesis, which is a big experiment and paper, where you present YOUR results, etc. Whereas, a capstone is like one huge scientific review paper, where you are presenting OTHER people's data and using it to prove your scientific argument/back up what your topic is about.
So yes, on Friday, I will be asking him to switch from a thesis to a capstone, because I only have a year left on the grant that pays my tuition, and when that runs out, I definitely DO NOT have the funds to be paying for school by myself.
I would only need 2 more classes (which I can bang out in one semester) and 2 semesters of capstone credits, so I could hypothetically be out of here by March! The good thing about a capstone is, it's not based on if you get data or not, like a thesis, so you can have a finite schedule....you can actually get out when you want!
Some of my lab mates seem to think that my advisor will say no to this option. I know he will be mad....and his initial reaction may be no, but I hope he will come around, because in the end it's about the student. And for him, it's about having a successful student. I think that my capstone idea is publishable....I was thinking of doing a review on quantitative methods for bacteria....the different qPCR methods, FISH, etc. Scientific review papers are seen all the time in journals, so why not my idea?! I'm going to approach my advisor by telling him that at first I really did want to go down the thesis track, but after 4 tries creating primers and a year working on it, I just don't think it's going very well. I'm going to tell him that I think it would be advantageous/in OUR best interest to switch to a capstone....for financial reasons and in order for him to have yet another successful student. I think that sounds fair.
If my advisor does say no, it would take way too long to try to start another capstone with someone else. To come up with an idea, have them accept me as their student, etc. So, let's hope that doesn't happen, because if it does....my plan is just to "fake it til I make it" sort of.....just fake like I'm still doing a thesis, like I'm still on the right track, until I hear back from one of the, at this point, 15 jobs I've applied for. Once I get a full-time job with benefits, I will be leaving. Again, this is my last resort.
So, I think that about catches you all up on what's been going on in my life. Just taking it a day at a time!
Hope you all have fared much better than I have up til now!!
Until Next Time,
Reaching for Reefs
