Transformation.

10 days ago, Boss lost his cajones.

Yesterday morning, he looked like this:


By evening, he had transformed into this:

My bad, Boss.

The beauty of it? If I did this to, say, a human, he/she would be plotting revenge. But Boss? Boss just came home and cuddled in bed with me.

Screening letter rant.

So, I finally re-submitted my Human Subjects application.

To review: I had submitted a "Certificate of Exemption" to Human Subjects for my dissertation research per my advisor. An Exemption basically says that my research either doesn't use, or so minimally uses, humans that the study really shouldn't have to undergo the Human Subjects scrutiny that most studies do.

I was told my study didn't qualify and to re-submit as a "Minimal Risk" application. So, I took my sweet time (because everyone else seems to be) and submitted a Minimal Risk application at the beginning of July.

Last Monday, I had an email from Human Subjects. And found out the reality of what I was dealing with.

I had a THREE page "Screening Letter" waiting for me. The letter said, "Ms. Itschner, your proposal sucks. Re-do it. Sincerely, Your Enemies in Research" And then listed all the things that I should specifically re-do.

Okay, it didn't really say that.

It did say that there were 12 things I needed to revise, add, remove, or otherwise change. And I FLIPPED the crap out. I hollered for 30 minutes at Jesse about quitting the program and how ridiculous these people were and if I suck so much, why was I even admitted to this program.

Then I contacted my peer mentor from when I started the program who graduated last year. She assured me that EVERYONE gets this letter. She did have an Exemption and got a 2 pager. She's known people who got 6 page letters. She's known people who have had their entire theoretical framework questioned.

Then I felt better.

Apartment Hunting in Seattle: Part Two

The ad on Craigslist boasted of a "cute 2 bedroom apartment in the U-District."

In our price range? Yes.
Dogs allowed? Yes.
Close to 520? Yes.
Overrun with college students? Maybe. But let's look anyway.

On Wednesday, Jesse set an appointment for us to view the apartment on Saturday at 1:00 pm. The woman asked us to call first when we were on our way. The same woman who, when we told her it was a boyfriend/girlfriend couple, said in her thick Asian accent, "Oh! That great! Boyfriend girlfriend live there now!"

On Saturday, we decided to get lunch in the U-District. As we wrapped up a delicious lunch at The RAM, Jesse called and got a voicemail. He left a message and we drove over. We drove to the street number before...and after. Where was this place? We backed up. Oh, it must be this "thing that looks like it used to be a tool shed" (quoting the Great Jesse Sharp). THIS is a 2 bedroom apartment? It was built on a hill and surrounded by trees, so I said maybe there were stairs we couldn't see leading to a bigger space than we were looking at.

Jesse called again. Left another message. We waited in front, and at 12:58 pm, an early 20s guy parked and walked into the apartment.

At 1:05, we knocked on the door. We explained to Early 20s that we had an appointment to see the apartment at 1:00 but were apparently being stood up. He said he thought Asian Landlord had already rented it out to someone who saw it earlier in the week, but we could see it if we wanted.

#1: How rude are you, Asian Landlord? I don't want to rent from you anyway if you can't even pick up your phone to tell us not to bother going to the apartment. Now, I didn't expect her to initiate a call to us...but I did expect her to answer her freaking phone when we had already set up this appointment. Yahoo.

#2: You are a massively false advertiser. Your "cute 2 bedroom"? Newsflash: It's a not-so-cute TWO ROOM apartment. Even this low maintenance college couple had only one room that could be used as a bedroom. And there's NO WAY my queen bed was fitting in there. The kitchen? A galley.

Pssh. Shame, shame.

Back to the drawing board. Stay tuned for Apartment Hunting in Seattle: Part Three (otherwise known as Peggy climbs a freaking wall doing hours of research).

Apartment-Hunting in Seattle: Part One

This post begins a series called "Apartment-Hunting in Seattle".

Jesse and I are moving in together in September (announcement!), so we have started looking for an apartment. We have a few criteria:
1. Under $1000/month. We want to prioritize paying off his student loans and saving up to buy the next place. So this would be "below our means" but would help us meet these two goals.
2. Dog-friendly. It's shocking how limited our options are with Boss, considering that every other person in Seattle owns at least one dog.
3. Easy on the commutes. I work in North Seattle and Jesse...well, we aren't exactly sure where he will end up after he graduates in December. But chances are he will be on the "Eastside" where Microsoft is if his internship there this summer goes well (which it will), which means across Lake Washington, requiring him to take Hwy 520 which gets crazy clogged with traffic and will have a toll starting in September. So we need to get as close to 520 as possible, which presents the next issue...
4. Not overloaded with college students. 520 is right by the UW. I work with students all day, and let's fact it...Jesse & I are getting old. We don't want to live on Greek Row.

I forgot what an absolute pain in the neck apartment-hunting is in Seattle. The last time I had to look was when I found Leah, or rather when Leah found me, in August 2008. The ridiculousness of shopping for shelter here led me to actually reverse the process on Craigslist and post my own ad.

Jesse and I have already had some experiences I could blog about in this process, so stay tuned for Apartment Hunting in Seattle: Part Two.

I'm one of them.

For approximately 5 years, I sought after a full-time student services position in Seattle. Beginning in 2005, I went on the hunt while planning to move to Seattle for graduate school. My UW employment search shows that I have applied for 162 jobs at the UW since July 2005. Of course that doesn't count the many jobs that I applied for at Seattle metro colleges.

For those 5 years, I networked like the schmoozer I wanted to be. I longed to be "one of them"--the Seattle higher education community. I thought how lucky they were to have a dream job in a dream city.

But let me tell you. The Seattle higher ed community is a hard nut to crack. I should know.

I had an assistantship where I worked part-time coordinating admissions for a graduate program at the UW. I had an internship with another grad program, and a temporary advising assignment at a community college.

Despite these feet in the door, the full-time permanent opportunity remained elusive. I went on 26-ish interviews after that assistantship. I finished 2nd 5 times. Are you freaking kidding me, Seattle.

Do you know how stressful it is to live in one of the most expensive US cities on a part-time salary and pay for grad school? No wonder my sanity remained far from me during those 5 years...I would have stayed away from myself if I could have.

Until...

In September 2010, I was offered an advising position at North Seattle Community College. For a job I did NOT apply for. How's that for irony?

And I have realized...now I'm one of them. Part of that community. I go to internship fairs now, to RECRUIT an intern for our office. I am schmoozed by grad students who are either seeking internships or jobs. I go to conferences where the people I used to schmooze are now colleagues, where I am even teaching them something new.

I am so grateful to be on this end of things. It took 5 years, but I love to get up in the morning and go to a job where I am able to work with students and develop professionally. And let's face it, the fact that I have a steady paycheck that's severely higher than anything I made in Texas makes cracking that nut worth all 1,825 days of insanity.