It's snowing. Again. And my enthusiasm for the snow has officially waned. We've gotten some wintery stuff almost every day for the past week. Fortunately Rowen is still insanely cute about the snow---bounding through the drifts, pushing the snow around to hide her pee, sticking her nose way down deep in the snow and then snorting it---which helps me keep a somewhat positive attitude as I'm chipping ice off my car for the thousandth time.
Now, the coldness? Not even Rowen can make that amusing. I live about four blocks from the mechanic where I took my car this morning, and that four-block walk back home at 8 in the morning was the most painful walk of my life. Three degrees. When I can tell you the temperature using one hand, it's too damn cold.
And speaking of the mechanic: I need to find a new one. I've gone to this one twice: once to get my brakes replaced and today to get ready for my holiday trip to PA (oil change, alignment, new wipers). Both times, the mechanic has called to "recommend" a laundry list of other services that add up to hundreds of dollars (this time, it was nearly $600 in other services; I declined considering that I was already spending $200 on the stuff I knew that I needed done). Both times I've gotten that gut feeling that I'm being ripped off. But then I wonder if I'm just being paranoid and that I really do need the stuff done. Most of the "recommended" services are related to my 60,000 mile maintenance: replacing the coolant; flushing the transmission; replacing the spark plugs; and so on. Any car experts among my four readers who want to weigh in? Are the recommended maintenance services worthwhile, especially considering that I put maybe 10-15 miles on my car each week (with a big trip from Madison to Baltimore twice a year)?
And speaking of spending way too much money: I've been doing exactly that. Mostly at the bookstore. I bought another two books today. Both are fun books to read over break (
Gossip Girl and
Big Boned). Except that I already have a huge pile of fun books that I want to read over break. And a huge pile of not-so-fun books that I ought to read over break. And my break this year is only two weeks because I have my qualifying exams* in January. I think I may have to make a New Year's resolution not to buy any books next year! I've been very naughty in 2007.
But the biggest disaster of all is the paper I finished yesterday. On the bright side, I'm done with one paper. But, and I am not being falsely modest in this, it is one of the worst papers I've ever written. I'm ashamed that I'm even turning it in. I started out with an interesting thesis, but the whole thing kind of fell apart, largely because I just didn't take enough time with it. And I don't have the time to fix it. It's due on Tuesday, and I still have to write another 20-page paper and a 5-page paper in Swahili. By this time next week. Gulp!
It's gonna be a long week.
* Two 10-page papers based on questions from the anthropology faculty. I have two weeks to write them. Which doesn't sound all that bad except that these two papers determine whether I finish with a master's degree or continue for my doctorate.
