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What did you do this week (and weekend)?
As part of a weekly series, these topics are a place for users to casually discuss the things they did — or didn't do — during their week. Did you accomplish any goals? Suffer a failure? Do nothing at all? Tell us about it!
I finally got my Visa submitted for my bachelor's school in France! My original appointment was 2 Tuesdays ago. Apparently there is a system called Campus France that you have to register through in order to study in France, even if you have already been accepted at a school. I had to pay a $500 fee just to register and get back an automated confirmation to include in my Visa application. It was pretty frustrating, and my finances are already going to be super tight, but its still cheaper than studying here in the US. The Visa application company let me reschedule last Wednesday, so at least it didn't set me back too much.
It really feels like I am being nickeled and dimed. 30€ application fee, $300 or so for an expedited passport, $150 to submit my visa, $500 to apply to Campus France, and tuition and dorms rent on top of it all. I get that bureaucracy costs money so I understand some of the fees (If I didn't loose my passport I wouldn't have been hit with that fee), but this all seems excessive. All of this feels like its designed for the "upper middle class" that has money to burn, and I definitely don't fit into that category. I am working 60 hours/week this summer just to raise money for this program, and it feels like society is trying to thwart me at every turn. I already can't get any sort of financial aid or loans (at least not that I've been able to find), and I will probably have to loan money from my grandparents just to pay for it.
Oh well, it is what it is. I am sure I can make it work, but it hasn't yet been fun.
I'm back in the US after several weeks away and I managed to hurt my back maneuvering a heavy suitcase, so my weekend looks like gentle walks and stretches mixed with a lot of rest and reading. It's good to be home though.
I'm scrambling to finish a paper for a conference on the 27th...it's a lot of work but a fascinating project.
My car is busted so I got to bus 7 hrs to the nearest airport and then back once I return from the conference.
Hopefully, by the time I get home, my car will be fixed, so I can hit the road for 2 months.
I also got my heart broken, but that was expected, and the person has already left for the summer, so I at least don't have to deal with the chance of running into them for the time being in the tiny town we live.
Let me get through these next couple weeks, and hopefully things will get back to some kind of baseline. We shall see.
On Monday my cat, Marlow, goes in to have his eye removed (and to also be neutered). I'm nervous for him, ofc. But he did well for his first vet visit this past Thursday. Apparently, there are two kinds of cats, the ones who freak out and hiss/swat at the vet, and those who just shake and pancake. Marlow's a pancaker.
He meowed a bit on the way there and may have gotten a bit car sick (he was drooling slightly), but was silent on the way back.
Once he was home, he immediately readjusted and within a few minutes was back to his normal self. Bonus, he didn't hate me or avoid me like I thought he might!
Took the boat out with the kids and grandkids yesterday for the first run of the summer. Its an older 19' runabout with a Chev 350 engine (about 250 hp) so it hauls decently. Lots of tubing, kneeboarding, wakeboarding and just enjoying the sun and the water. Just love going boating!
Had another stressful week but I've got a fun weekend planned so things should balance out. Finally got to start working on a new feature at work and discovered the scope of it is way bigger than we initially imagined. Had a quick planning and estimation session today with the feature lead and a more senior engineer and we're estimating an extra week or two from our initial estimate, which was to have this delivered by next week. I feel oddly responsible and guilty about it, which I really shouldn't, but man I hate this feeling. However, thankfully my senior engineers are understanding and I hope it doesn't reflect poorly on me.
I took the Juneteenth holiday we had on Wednesday here in the States to de-stress and try to relax. I drove on a fun twisty road that I've been wanting to drive on for months and took it all the way to the beach. Got lunch from a nearby deli and then sat on the beach (with no chair because it was a spontaneous trip) for an hour or two. Didn't de-stress as much as I thought it would but I had a lot of fun.
This weekend, my family's holding a little grad party for my brother who graduated a few weeks ago so I'm looking forward to that. I'm also hanging out with friends and doing a little hotpot in their apartment. I've only ever had hotpot one other time so I'm excited to have some again. I am a little worried about getting there and back as I need to ride our local public transit past 11pm and it can get a bit iffy around then. However, I'd much prefer that to driving all the way back home that late.
Yesterday I did some tour duty for a newlywed couple and their families. Wife's family is from where I live, her husband's family is from Mexico. His older relatives had never been to the US before. Wife's mom read our paper ad and set up a time for them to stop by, take pictures and hear about the history of the place/what we were up to.
It was really fun to do and they had an awesome time. Though many only spoke Spanish, a family member translated and we had some good conversation. Husband's mom was just beside herself, she loved the place and wanted to take pictures around everything. His grandmother too, talked with me a bit by way of the translator, and had a lot of good things to say about the idea of what sort of business we were trying to be/about what it meant for me to be helping with my family. Wife's mom befriended my grandmother so hopefully that means she gets to have some fun times with new friends.
Over the weekend I've some cleaning to do, besides that my plan is to play Shadow of the Erdtree. I got to play for a couple of hours when it released and was blown the hell away, can't wait to see more. Easily some of the most beautiful stuff I've seen a game do, in a while at least. The Dancing Lion became one of my favorite encounters pretty much immediately, its wonderfully animated and the fight is halfway scary with how it moves and what it does. I've been turning my character into a light load dual greatsword build and that thing had me on my toes the whole time.
I ran my first ever half marathon this weekend. I was able to complete it in just over 2 hours, which was faster than my goal time. Really happy with how it went.
I trained for about 16 weeks to make sure I was ready. About 8 years ago I tried to run 10 miles without much training and injured myself. My next goal is a full marathon. My training starts in a few weeks!